


More than just a boy from Tennessee

by Cole0862, Purple_Arrow7



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Father-Son Relationship, First Kiss, Fluff, Gen, Kinda AU, Kinda Fluffy, M/M, Not Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie) Compliant, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Not Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, Not Spider-Man: Homecoming Compliant, Not Steve Rogers Friendly, Parent Tony Stark, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Lives, What if Harley was in the MCU more, kinda angsty, not wanda maximoff friendly
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-29
Updated: 2020-09-13
Packaged: 2020-09-29 13:29:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 25,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20436809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cole0862/pseuds/Cole0862, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Purple_Arrow7/pseuds/Purple_Arrow7
Summary: I love Harley Keener, and I wish he were in the MCU more- this is a collection of moments, and what ifs- would things be different if Harley was there.I'm not really writing them in any order, its more just as each idea comes to mind, for the most part they are totally seperate ideas- but Chapters 10, 11 and 12 are all tied together👌This is my first fic ever so apologies for quality- please enjoy😊😊





	1. Would Age of Ultron be different if Harley were there?

**Author's Note:**

> Also later on Harley builds a helper bot, his name is D.A.T.A - Damn Adorable Tiny AI- picture him a little like Wall-e🤖

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maybe Ultron could’ve been prevented (by the power of love)

On the quinjet, flying away from Strucker’s base, Tony can’t stop shaking. His thoughts were racing, he was desperately trying to make sense of what he just saw- _‘Was it a vision?’ ‘A premonition?’_ He didn’t know, and that terrified him. He couldn’t shake the panic of the Chitauri returning, of him failing the team- of failing Earth, it was too much to bare.

The team didn’t seem to notice, going about post-battle business as usual, while Tony tried to contain his oncoming panic attack. _‘Harley... I need to talk to Harley’_ was a constant thought in his head, so he ducked into the bathroom, pulling out his phone.

While it rang, he tried (and failed) to slow his breathing back down to an acceptable level, it seemed to take centuries, but finally his kid answered.

“Hey Tony, what's up?” Harley happily greeted.

Tony struggled to answer, out of breath, but grateful just to hear Harley’s voice.

“Mechanic? Is everything okay? Are you having a panic attack?” Harley asked, worrying over his father figure, “It’s gonna be alright, I’m here, just focus on my voice” he continued.

“Harley, god Kid it’s all my fault, they’re coming…. they’re coming back and I can’t stop it, I can’t save anyone” Tony choked out, in between panicked breaths.

“You already saved us Tony, you stopped them, we’re fine because of you- you’re a hero. My hero, and if something else is coming, I know you’ll figure it out- you always do” Harley soothed.

“I have to stop them, I can’t let them hurt the team, or Pepper, Rhodey or you. God kid I don’t know what I’d do if you got hurt, if they came back and I lost you” Tony blurted out, still struggling to calm down.

“**Tony, breathe**\- I’m fine, we’re all okay, I promise. No matter what might come in the future, I know you’ll keep us safe. I know that because you're the Mechanic, you’ll build something to save us, if you have to- just breathe okay- nothing is coming right now, it’s alright. Tony where are you? Can you come see me for a little while?” Harley said in reassurance.

“Okay, you’re right Harls, I think I need a break- I was gonna run some experiments on Loki’s scepter to see if it could be used as a defense system for Earth, but you’re right, clearing my head for a few days is a smarter choice right now,” Tony said, “Though I’m sure this has nothing to do with you missing your old man” Tony teased, feeling a lot calmer from Harley talking him down .

“Oh shut up Tony, like you haven’t been missing me either.”

“No comment.”

“Yeah that’s what I thought, old man.”

“Alright well, we’ll be landing in New York in less than an hour, and I’ll head over to you in a suit straight afterwards.”

“Okay see you soon, bye Dad” Harley said, hanging up.

Tony’s eyes widened in shock, he knew Harley saw him as a father figure, but he’d never actually called him Dad before.

Meanwhile in Tennessee, Harley was panicking once his brain caught up to his mouth, and he realized he’d just crossed the threshold of calling Tony his Dad- shit. They were gonna have to talk about this right?

\------------------------

Tony landed in Harley’s backyard barely an hour and a half after the phone call, definitely having broken multiple air traffic laws. It was worth it though, even if just to see Harley’s face light up upon spotting the Mark 43, in all it's glory, land in his signature 3 point pose. Tony smirked as he stood, and lifted the face plate, chuckling “Wow Harls, I’d almost think you’d never seen my suits before”

“Shut up old man, it's cool and you know it”

“Yeah I do, come here kid” Tony answered, stepping out of the suit and gathering the kid in his arms. If he held on longer and tighter than he normally would, well- screw it, he had had a rough day, and Harley didn’t seem to mind.

When they finally broke apart, Harley’s brow was furrowed in concern, the question of Tony’s well-being clearly on his mind.  
“It’s okay Harls. I’m sorry if I scared you earlier- I was just a bit worked up.”

“A bit?! Dad you were having a panic attack, you said you’d been better, that you weren't as stressed anymore. I was so worried about you.”

“Shhh it’s okay, I’m okay, I promise kid. I’m sorry I’ve got you all worked up about little old me” Tony soothed, once again pulling Harley against his chest. Harley sniffled softly for a few moments, feeling a little silly that Tony was comforting him, when it was supposed to be the other way around.

“Now, are we ready to talk about that word you’ve been calling me today?” Tony gently teased, hoping to lift the mood from the depressing place it was in.

“What, you mean old man? I always call you that” Harley said, feigning ignorance.

“Don’t play dumb, it doesn’t suit you” Tony chastised, though the smile on face took the seriousness right out of that statement, “You know it’s okay right? Calling me that… it scared me a little, when you first said it but now- well now it just makes me happy knowing you love me as much as I adore you” he continued, looking Harley in the eyes.

“You’re sure?” Harley asked, hesitance clear in his words. At Tony’s nod, and soft reassuring smile he continued,

“Well, if you’re sure then… I love you Dad. And I’m glad you’re okay.”

“Shit kid, you’ve gone and gotten me all teared up.”

“...”

“And I love you too.”

“Damn right you do” Harley sassed, glad to end their mushy heart-to-heart, “Now come on, let’s go make something blow up in my lab.”

“Sure thing, maybe we can make the Mark 3 of your potato gun?”

“Whatever you say Mechanic, but I wanna see something explode today.”

_‘God this kid is going to be the death of me’_ Tony thought, but nonetheless followed his son into the shed where they first met, feeling a million times better, just from being around this boy from Tennessee- his son.


	2. Where did Tony go after he left the compound?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Right so this is my take on what happened to Tony after he left the compound in AoU, doesn't continue on from the previous chapter- not particularly friendly to the Avengers. Anyway enjoy 😊

Tony was struggling, badly. He knew the team was going to have issues, particularly because they still blamed him for Ultron’s creation- no matter how much he begged them to understand that it wasn’t his fault. When Bruce left, everyone magically forgot that he was right by Tony’s side, when they were first experimenting with the sceptre. Once Maximoff was added to the team, without showing any remorse for her actions against the Avengers, and the citizens of Johannesburg, Seoul or Sokovia- Tony knew he couldn’t be an active member of the team any longer.

It still hurt when Tony voiced this opinion to Steve, who immediately agreed and all but showed Tony the door. He had hoped that, given the teams history, Tony remaining an active avenger would be an option to be discussed, but it was pretty clear the team just wanted the compound and his funding, not him.

As Tony drove away from the facility, he let himself break down, tears rolled down his cheeks- as he thought about the people who he had considered his family, could so easily dismiss him and accept someone who hurt them.

He didn’t have a destination in mind as he started driving, instinct told him to go to Pepper, but their relationship wasn’t at its strongest right now, and he wasn’t sure he could handle her disappointed looks, once she knew he had been kicked off the team.

Without much thought, he had started heading towards Tennessee, wishing for the comfort his kid provided. He told FRIDAY to drive him to Harley’s and allowed himself to get some rest during the 14-hour journey.

He woke up several times and confirmed with FRIDAY that he was still on track and would be arriving in a few hours. He let his mind drift off, trying, but ultimately failing to keep his thoughts from the dark place in his mind, prominent from his rejection by the Avengers. Tony felt numb, and once again silently cried himself back into an uneasy sleep.

\---------------

When Harley heard a car pull up outside, only an hour after his mum had headed to work, he was quite confused. With a glance out the window, at the ostentatious orange sports car currently occupying his driveway, he knew it contained none other than Tony Stark. He hadn’t called ahead, which made Harley think something serious must’ve happened.

Harley quickly made his way out to greet him, noticing on the way that Tony hadn’t made any move to leave the car. Harley quickened his pace, and opened the passenger door, gently settling himself opposite Tony. He didn’t speak for a few moments, just taking in the man beside him, from his red eyes and withdrawn body language- his mentor was clearly struggling with something serious.

“Hi Tony” Harley started softly, “It’s nice to see you, how are you?”  
Tony didn’t answer for a moment, but eventually turned towards the kid next to him, who was patiently waiting for an answer. With a simple look into Harley’s genuinely concerned expression, he let out the breath he’d been holding and started to talk.

“Sorry for just appearing out of nowhere kid, I didn’t really have a destination in mind when I started driving, but then I thought about you and well… here I am”

“It’s okay Tony, I’m happy your here. Are you up for telling me what’s wrong?” Harley reassured.

“Um, it's just- shit. Sorry. Okay, do you know about what happened in Sokovia or any of the stuff going on recently?”

At Harley’s nod, Tony continued. “Right well, due to those events, it was decided that…. I will no longer be an active member of the Avengers Initiative.”

“What?! Are they out of their minds, Tony you are the team- they can’t just kick you out.”

“Harley it’s okay, I mean it sucks- and I’m pretty gutted that it was so easy for them to dismiss me, but I’m not the leader, Cap is. Which means it was his decision, and none of the others protested so, here I am.” Tony explained, touched by Harley’s protectiveness over him.

“But why- Why did they do it? I saw the reports, Ultron wasn’t your fault and-” Harley argued, before Tony cut him off. “He wasn’t completely my fault, true. But I am responsible regardless and a new team member, wasn’t comfortable with my presence, so I’m out”

“Is it that scary witch lady?”

“Wanda yeah… she blames me for her parents' deaths, and now her brothers’ as well I think- so the team thought I shouldn’t be around her. But that’s okay, because I didn’t exactly want to be anywhere near her either”

“Did she do something to you? Tony please tell me she didn’t hurt you” Harley pressed, desperate to know if the strange woman he saw on the news had hurt Tony.

“Listen it’s complicated alright- she didn’t attack me or anything...” Tony trailed off, no longer looking at Harley.

“Tony please”

“Okay, just let me explain it fully yeah? Right, so her powers are telekinetic and telepathic- basically she can move stuff with her mind, and influence people's thoughts and behavior. She put a vision in my head- of the Chitauri returning, and all the Avengers dying and it was my fault and I should’ve saved them, I should’ve done more and...”

Tony broke off, out of breath, and shaking. Harley reached over and took hold of his hands, then gently assured him that he was safe.

“Thanks kid- right so what she showed me, scared me pretty bad, as you can tell- so when we got home, I launched into making Ultron, to protect the Earth and everyone on it. And we couldn’t get it to work, so we stopped, and he came online anyway and it all went to shit. After what I saw, my nightmares increased tenfold and I’m just so anxious all the time now and I hate that the team chose her over me” Tony finished, tears once again in his eyes, grateful for the comfort Harley provided.

'Those assholes', Harley thought, 'how could they not see how much Tony was affected by recent events'. He took a minute to process what Tony had said and tried to think of something meaningful to respond with.

Tony took his silence as rejection, and started to pull his hands back, but that just lead Harley to squeeze tighter.

“Nuh uh, whatever negative shit you’re thinking- stop okay. I was just taking a minute to think and call the Avengers names- I’m on your side Tony, always. We’re gonna get through this, I promise.”

At Tony’s hopeful expression, and nod, Harley continued. “How bout you come inside, and when my Mum comes home, we’ll tell her you’ll be staying here for a little while, yeah?”

“Alright Kid, whatever you say” Tony answered with a soft smile, happy with his decision to come here.

As they went inside, Harley started mentally plotting revenge on Tony's ex-teammates and anyone who had hurt his pseudo father-_ 'this was gonna be fun.'_


	3. What if Harley was at the compound when Peter first goes there?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So this is my take on the Spider-man: Homecoming scene, where Peter goes to the compound to be offered a place with the Avengers- except this time Harley is there

Tony was just finishing showing Peter the Iron Spider armor and giving his ‘_make Spider-man an official Avenger_’ speech, when a young man's voice interrupted him.

“Mechanic, I need you to come see the progress I’ve made on my gauntlet, I reckon a few more tweaks and I’ll be able to kick your armors ass.” Harley sassed as he entered the room, it was only when Tony didn’t answer that Harley looked up from his tablet, to see Tony, Happy and some guy staring at him.

“Uh… Hi- I’m Harley, who are you?”

Tony stepped in before Peter could reply, “Kid this is Peter, he’s um, my other mentee”

“You told me I was your only child, Tony, how could you?” Harley gasped, dramatically clutching his heart.

“We’re still connected Harls, I promise- you’ll always be my favorite”

“Damn right old man.”

Peter was staring between his hero and this random kid, as they bantered back and forth, wondering how they knew each other. _Maybe the rumors of Tony having illegitimate children from back in his playboy days were true- maybe this boy was one of them._

A quick glance at Peter, and Tony realized how confused the poor boy must be, shaking his head at Harley, Tony turned to Peter to explain.

“Do you remember the whole Mandarin incident a few years back? Well during that time, I crash landed in Harley’s shed and then we proceeded to save each other’s lives a few times and now he’s my kid.”

“Of course, that’s how you’d explain our relationship” Harley said with a laugh, taking in Peter’s still confused expression. “Listen what Tony’s trying to say is- we’re family, and if you’re the guy Tony built that suit for and won’t stop gushing about, then we’re gonna get along just fine” he finished, gesturing to the Iron Spider suit, still displayed behind them.

“Okay well it's nice to meet you Harley” Peter finally said with a smile, he then turned to Tony, “I’m so grateful for the offer Mr. Stark, I swear, but I think I’m better suited to just being a ‘Friendly Neighborhood Spider-man’ right now- ya know? Sticking up for the little guy and stuff” Peter finished.

“Ooooh rejected! God Tony you should see the look on your face!” Harley exclaimed with a laugh.

“You sure about this kid? Going once…” Tony questioned, pointedly ignoring Harley.

“Yeah, I’m sure Mr. Stark, thank you” Peter confirmed, with a nod.

“Well alright then, you can just focus on the smaller stuff for now... but if you change your mind and want to throw down with the big guys, well the offer still stands,” Tony said, laying a hand on Peter’s shoulder, “And hey, if you ever want to swing by and do some science with me and Harley, you’re always welcome.”

“Really?! That would be amazing Mr. Stark, thank you” Peter gushed in excitement. _'I can’t believe this is happening to me'_ he thought.

“Fine old man, I guess your new pet can join us sometime… It was good to meet you Peter” Harley teased, then with a quick wave he left the room, heading back to the lab.

“Ignore him. Anyway, so Happy can drive you home now, and if you ever want to come over just shoot him a text or something.” Tony instructed.

“Really Boss? I have to chauffeur the kid around” Happy said with a frown, though his eyes were still full of playful warmth.

Tony laughed, and answered “He’s growing on you, don’t even try to deny it.” Turning to Peter, he nodded goodbye, with a proud “Good luck out there kid, you’re gonna do great.”

Peter walked out of the compound, with a huge smile on his face, confident in his decision.

\----------------

Meanwhile in the lab, Harley was still messing with his gauntlet when Tony came in.

“So, what’s this about being able to kick my suits ass huh?” Tony teased, startling Harley’s focus.

“Well yeah old man, that’s always been the plan” Harley answered with a smirk, setting down his tools.

“So Tony, you wanna tell my why you snuck Peter here today, and didn’t intend for us to meet anytime soon or?” Harley questioned; insecurity prominent in his voice.

“Honestly kid I just didn’t want to overwhelm either of you- Peter’s a good kid and I didn’t want to come on too strong. I didn’t mean to hurt you Harls, I swear you would’ve met him soon” Tony said as he moved to Harley’s side, laying his hands on his shoulders in reassurance.

“Really? It wasn’t cause you were embarrassed by me or something?” Harley asked, still not convinced.

“Yes, I promise Harley, I am so proud of you- so proud to call you my son, I could never be embarrassed by you. Ever.” Tony swore, before pulling him into bone-crushing hug.

Harley clung to Tony’s words, and let himself be held in Tony’s arms, as he slowly calmed down. He was silently preening over being called Tony’s son, he had felt that way for a while, and was touched to know Tony felt the same.

They slowly drew apart, but didn’t stray far from each other’s sides, content just to be in each other’s presence.

“You wanna keep working on your armor, or do something else for a while?” Tony asked, grateful to be on the same page as his kid again.

“Would it be alright if we watched a movie and snuggled?” Harley asked shyly.

“Yeah Harls, that sounds perfect, anything in particular you’re in the mood for?”

“Big Hero 6?”

“Perfect, let’s get comfortable then. FRIDAY please queue the movie in the lounge, we’ll be right there”

“Ready when you are Boss” the AI answered.

“Let’s go kid” Tony said, guiding Harley out of the lab.

“Okay Dad” Harley replied with a shy smile. Tony just held on tighter and smiled as they made their way through the compound together.


	4. What if Harley was at the compound when Tony gets Steve's letter?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The scene where Tony reads Steve's letter, except Harley is there to cheer him up- Not very Steve friendly

Tony had been sitting in Steve's office- or former office really, considering he wasn’t coming back, holding the envelope for a while. It took him nearly an hour, to gain the courage to open the letter from Steve. He’d opened the package, seen the phone and thought ‘_no thanks_’. But he knew he’d have to read it eventually, as much as he yearned to throw it away without ever knowing what was written.

_'Here goes nothing’_ he thought, and finally opened it. Then proceeded to stared in disbelief at the bullshit words the mighty Steve Rogers deemed an apology. He sat in shock for several minutes, until Harley found him.

“Hey Tony” he greeted, “What’s this then?” he asked, plucking the letter out of Tony’s hand.

His eyes scanned the letter, as he realized who it was from.

_'Tony, I'm glad you're back at the compound. I don't like the idea of you rattling around a mansion by yourself.’_ “Is he serious?! Like he didn’t take the Avengers with him” Harley muttered.

'_We all need family. The Avengers are yours, maybe more so than mine.’_ “Nice try asshole, but Tony’s got a family right here.”

_'I've been on my own since I was 18. I never really fit in anywhere, even in the army.’ _“Now I know that’s bullshit. The whole world knows of his brotherhood with Bucky Barnes and the Howling Commandos.” 

_'My faith's in people, I guess. Individuals. And I'm happy to say that, for the most part, they haven't let me down.’ _“Wow subtle, he might as well just say _‘except you Tony, fuck you Tony’_ like damn.” 

'_I know I hurt you, Tony. I guess I thought by not telling you about your parents I was sparing you, but I can see now that I was really sparing myself, and I'm sorry. Hopefully one day you can understand.’ _“**What. The. Actual. Fuck**. That is not how you apologize, like shit- it’s not about justifying your own shitty actions.”

_'I wish we agreed on the Accords, I really do. I know you're doing what you believe in, and that's all any of us can do. That's all any of us should . . .So, no matter what. I promise you, if you need us, if you need me, I'll be there.’ _“Nope just nope. He never needed you, and he never will.” Harley finished reading, and ranting, before turning back to Tony.

“Hey, don’t listen to a word of his shit okay? He’s not worth your time or energy.” Harley assured, as he knelt in front of Tony, who had yet to move.

“Mechanic?” Harley asked gently, concern heavy in his voice.

Slowly Tony raised his head and looked at his kid. “Sorry Harls, I just needed to think for a minute- I’m sorry for worrying you, but I’m alright.”

“I don’t think you are, and that’s okay- cause I’m here, and Rhodey will be home later tonight, and we’ve got you. Always.” Harley promised.

When Tony replied, it was soft and sorrowful, “I know, thanks kid. It’s just… I got so used to having them around again, I thought we’d be back to the way things were before Ultron, no lies, no secrets, just trust. But he lied to me. He kept my moms' murder from me, and now he asks that I understand it. Like I’m supposed to forget the look on his face as watched the tape- no shock, no empathy, no nothing. Howard was his friend, I thought he’d at least feel something, but all he cared about was Barnes, his precious Bucky. And now he apologizes with that self-righteous nonsense- it’s not fair.” 

Harley was hugging him, before Tony had even finished. A few tears fell, as he told his kid how everything felt to him, finally letting himself grieve. Grieve for his parents, for his team, for… Steve, the man he looked up to, who could so easily lie to his face, who left him. 

Harley just held on to him tightly, recognizing how much Tony needed to let himself feel these things, instead of bottling them up. After a while, Harley's knees started to ache, so he slowly removed his arms from Tony, and slowly stood in front of him. 

“Come with me Tony, I’ve got an idea” Harley said, while taking Tony’s hand and pulling him to his feet. He gathered the letter and phone in his other hand and guided them out of the office.

Together they made their way through the compound, as Harley led them to Tony’s lab. FRIDAY opened the doors as they arrived, so they walked straight in, heading towards the incinerator in the back corner. 

“Harley what...?” Tony asked, when he realized where here was being led.

“Come on old man, you know this will help,” Harley said, as he handed the letter and phone to Tony. “Destroy them, move on from him, cleanse your soul and heal yourself or some shit- look I’m not great at this stuff, but I really believe this will help you.”

Tony snickered at Harley’s attempt at therapy, before nodding in agreement.

“Alright then, FRI baby, start the incinerator please.”

“Of course, Boss” the AI answered, as the flame started.

“Right. Here goes nothing” Tony muttered, as he approached the flame. He allowed himself a minute, just stare into the heat and feel the loss, and betrayal he’d been drowning in since Siberia. Finally, he dropped the ancient phone in, then after a brief moment, he threw the letter in too. Harley was right, it was strangely cathartic- finally letting go of past hurts and moving forward. 

“You alright?” Harley asked, as Tony remained frozen, staring at the flame as it slowly destroyed that damn flip phone.

Shaking himself from his stupor, Tony turned back towards Harley, “Yeah Harls, I’m alright- thank you for bringing me down here and getting me to do that, I needed it.”

“Good, you know I’m here for you no matter what right? I love you Tony.”

“I know kid, I love you too.”

And with that, Tony knew at the very least he would always have Harley, and that was enough for him.


	5. What if Tony called Harley on his way into space?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Infinity War AU- Tony calls on his way to rescue Peter and Strange. Then cuts to Titan after the fight.

_Those fucking aliens are back, _Tony thought on repeat. It had been six years since the New York invasion, and he had slowly let himself believe that it was over- that what he saw before Ultron wasn’t the future, it was just a sick nightmare.

But now, here he was fighting 2 alien bastards, trying to coordinate evacuation efforts, keep Bruce safe and protect a pretentious wizard wearing an infinity stone as a necklace.

It didn’t take long for an already shitty situation to get much worse. When Spider-man had swung in to save him, Tony was happy for a second, before realizing how much he wanted the kid as far away from this madness as possible. When Strange flew past, he sent Peter after him, hoping it would be safer that way.

How wrong he was. He watched in dismay as both Peter and Strange were “beamed up” into the ship ascending away from the city.

Tony didn’t hesitate, flying after Peter as soon as he could, telling FRIDAY to send the Iron Spider suit his way. 

“Shit- um Fri baby, call Harley please,” Tony said quickly, still speeding his way towards the giant flying donut, that had kidnapped that wizard guy and more importantly his spider mentee.

“Hey Tony, what’s up?” Harley answered happily. From this Tony assumed he hadn’t seen the news of the attack on New York yet then. 

“Hey kid, listen um some shit’s going down right now, and I don’t want you to worry- the damage was contained to New York, and you’re going to be just fine. Um do you remember Peter? Well he’s in a bit of a jam, so I’ve got to help him and well- he’s on a ship, they’ve come back, and I have to get him home so… I’m going to be going out of contact range for a little while Harls, but I’m going to do everything I can to come home again, I promise.” Tony told him, praying that Harley would understand.

“They’re back?” Harley asked, sounding scared, but not for himself- he was scared for his dad. “You promise you’ll come home though, Tony. I’m gonna hold you to that- you save Peter, you kick whoever’s ass you need to kick, and you come home.” Harley instructed, desperate for Tony to be back safe on Earth.

“Yeah kid, those alien assholes came back, but it’s going to be alright- And yeah, I promise, I’ll do whatever it takes to come back to you.” Tony reassured, feeling uneasy- as though he knew he was lying; as if he knew that he wasn’t going to make it home.

“You better, cause I don’t know what I’d do without you--” Harley broke off with a sob, as the reality of the situation fully hit him.

“Shh Harls, it’s okay, I’m gonna be okay- I swear.” Tony comforted, ashamed at what he was putting his loved ones through, first Pepper, now the kid.

“Listen kid, I’m nearly at the ship- I love you and I’ll call you as soon as I can,” Tony said, as the ship came into his vision fully.

“I love you too Dad, and I-” Harley started, when the call dropped out. “Tony? Tony please! Shit.” Harley shouted, desperate for an answer he knew he wouldn’t receive. 

Harley took a few deep breaths, willing his heart to stop trying to beat its way out of his chest. _Please keep him safe, let him come home, _Harley prayed, to any God willing to listen, that his dad would be okay.

\----------------------

They lost. After everything, the plan, the execution of it- they almost had him, almost had the gauntlet off, but it all went to shit. Once Strange traded the time stone for his life, Tony was overcome with feelings of defeat and loss.

“Why, why would you do that?” Tony had asked, disbelieving that he was still alive.

Then Thanos had left, presumably off to end the universe or whatever he was trying to do. Now the Guardians, Strange and Peter were sitting around, in varying states of shock and confusion.

Peter was right by his side, quiet- eerily so, it was if Thanos had stolen their words when he left them behind.

After a while, maybe minutes- maybe days, the one the Guardians called Mantis spoke suddenly, breaking the silence that consumed the ruined planet.

“Something... is happening,” she said, in a certain but obviously worried way, before turning to dust.

One by one, the Guardians were erased into nothingness- final words full of fear and confusion, escaped their disintegrating bodies.

When Strange looked calmly towards him and said “Tony, there was no other way,” while he turned to dust- any hope Tony was holding onto disappeared.

“Mr. Stark? I don’t feel so good…” Peter said shakily, looking at his hands, as they slowly started to fall to pieces.

“You’re alright” Tony assured, trying to stop his voice from shaking. _Not him, God please not him- take me instead, _Tony thought hopelessly.

Peter stumbled, overcome with terror, “I don't know what's- I don't know what's happening. I don't-” He fell into Tony’s arms, gripping onto him fiercely, tears flowing freely down his youthful face. 

“I don't wanna go, I don't wanna go, Mr. Stark, please. Please, I don't wanna go. I don't wanna go…” Peter says, then looks into Tony’s eyes, “I'm sorry.” 

Tony collapses, when Peter disappears- shocked from the sudden lack of weight in his arms. He stares at his shaking hands, coated in his blood and Peter’s ashes, as he waits for his turn to die. It never comes, and Tony thinks perhaps this is his curse… to forever lose those he loves, to fail at saving people when they need him most.

He barely hears the blue lady, Thanos’ daughter, the only other person on this barren wasteland who didn’t fade away.

“He did it” Nebula says, final and true.

Tony looks down, rests his face on his dirty hands and mourns the loss of a kid who never should’ve been a part of this fight. He mourns for Strange, and for the warriors he fought side by side with today.

He mourns for Harley, and the promise he made and now knows will forever remain broken- it barely matters if Thanos took Harley as well, because Tony’s gonna die here. He’ll never make it home to Harley, to Pepper, to Rhodey- so maybe it’s easier if they were dusted too, at least then they don’t have to live, worrying about him. Maybe it’s better that way.

_I’m sorry kid._


	6. What happened when Tony found out Harley was dusted?

The ship landed with a gentle thud, after Carol carried across several galaxies. When the ramp had opened revealing a barely alive Tony Stark being carried by a blue alien, the Avengers were stunned.

Tony had been led inside by Pepper and Steve, still in shock over being rescued at all. He’d accepted that he would die in space, in the company of Thanos’ surviving daughter. But now here he was, back on Earth with the Avengers who didn’t turn to dust- and Pepper, his sweet, beautiful fiance who was still alive, much to Tony’s surprise. He assumed he would’ve lost everywhere he loved, that was his curse after all.

Inside the compound, the others regaled him with their version of recent events, from the fight in Scotland to the grueling battle of Wakanda. They spoke of Vision and his death, of Bucky, Sam, Wanda, Groot (another Guardian apparently) and T’Challa fading to dust in front of them. They told him that half of the Earth’s population was gone, at random and that while he was in space, a list had been compiled worldwide of those ‘snapped’ away.

_Shit-Harley_! Tony thought, _I need to know if he’s okay_.

“Can you pull up Tennessee's list of dusted, last name Keener?”

“Uh sure, here you go… What am I looking for Tony?” Natasha answered, while pulling up the necessary screens.

Thousands of names and faces blurred by, as she narrowed the search parameters. It was horrifying to see the scale of the chaos Thanos had reaped on the universe, on it’s people, just because he wanted ‘balance’.

“Harley. Harley Keener, he’s my um… a friend, he’s an old friend of mine”

At hearing the name, Rhodey sucked in a worried breath, remembering the times Tony spoke of a brilliant young man in Tennessee who Tony came to treat as his son.

“Harley Keener 18 years old, he was dusted, I’m sorry Tony” Natasha said, turning towards him only to watch him fall to the floor.

Rhodey moved to catch him, knowing what that information would’ve done to Tony- but was a second too late so he just gently wrapped his arms around him, while the man cried over the loss of both of his sons. Pepper came to his other side and tried to console him too. They shared a look of worry over Tony’s bowed head, as neither of them had seen his break quite this badly before.

None of the surviving avengers knew what to do, as their ex-teammate broke down before them. They didn’t even know who this kid was, let alone understand his significance to the genius. 

“He was too young, shit he was only just 18, what if he was alone when it happened? He wouldn’t’ve known what was going on. God and I lost Peter too- he was just a kid Rhodey, he was in my arms, begging not to go- it took so long too, compared to the others, it was like his healing factor was fighting his own death. And I couldn’t do anything, he was just fading, and I couldn’t help him… Rhodey what the hell am I supposed to do? Harley he’s just-” Tony broke off with a sob.

Rhodey rubbed his hands along Tony’s back, wishing he could take away some of the pain his best friend was suffering. Pepper was in tears now too; she’d spent a decent amount of time with Harley and she felt his loss nearly as hard. 

Meanwhile Tony was working himself into a panic attack, his breath was coming in short stuttering gasps as he became overwhelmed by the loss. Rhodey and Bruce shared a quick look, then Bruce hurried away to get a needle. He was back in a minute and quickly injected it into a panicking Tony- his face flashed with betrayal before the sedation kicked in, and Bruce felt sick with guilt.

Rhodey and Bruce carried the now unconscious Tony to the Med bay, where Pepper stayed by his side.

\------------

When Rhodey re-joined the Avengers, they all still carried looks of confusion, a thousand questions clearly on their minds. It was Natasha that spoke up, ever curious, as she wasn’t used to not knowing something before everyone else.

“What was that? I’ve never seen Tony like that before.” she asked.

“Yeah who was that kid anyway? One of Tony’s bastards or something?” Steve butt in, not noticing the glares at his back.

“Watch yourself Rogers, you’ve got no right to Tony’s business” Rhodes snapped, cutting off that bullshit before it could become a real thought in anyone’s mind.

“Now it’s not my story to tell, but all you need to understand is that kid isn’t Tony’s biologically, but he is his son. They met during the whole Mandarin fiasco 5 years ago and kept in touch and that’s all I’m going to say about it- if Tony ever wants to tell you more, than that’s up to him.” Rhodey explained.

No one said anything for a moment, processing what Rhodey had said. Finally, Natasha broke the fragile silence.

“Is he gonna be okay?” she said, genuine concern showing through her indifferent facade.

“He’ll be out the rest of the day, and it’s not going to be easy when he wakes- he adored Harley and Peter, that’s Spider-man, so much so I don’t think he’ll be alright for a while actually.” Rhodes answered, voice heavy with concern for his best friend.

_God help him, I need him to be okay, _Rhodey prayed, _please let him be okay._


	7. What if Harley met Peter in the soul stone?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So I know there's a bit of disagreement on whether or not Harley was dusted in Infinity War- in this fic he was dusted and chilled in the soul stone for 5 years, before being brought back by Hulks snap. Low key Harley/Peter more just attraction/mutual liking

Harley woke up suddenly, snapping from nothingness to consciousness in a second. His eyes were wide as he took in his new surroundings, the soft orange glow of the sky, the endless water coating the ground- it felt strange on his skin, and he couldn’t understand why he didn’t seem wet.

_Where the hell am I? _he thought.

The last thing he remembered was working in his ‘lab’ on his bastardized Iron man suit- then his hands turned to dust, and everything went black.

Shaking off the memory, he slowly stood and looked around his new environment- the sky was infinite, the water seemed endless too, but in the distance, he thought he could make out the silhouette of a person.

With no real plan in mind, he started walking towards the figure, praying they might know something about the current situation. _I hope they know where we are, or how to get home _he considered as he walked.

After several minutes, the figure became a little clearer, so he called out to them.

“HEY! OVER HERE”

The person turned towards him, then started jogging over, Harley slowed his pace, now worried that this person wasn’t an ally, but a threat. The man, actually teenage boy, came into view. He slowed down, then stopped several meters away when Harley spoke.

“That’s far enough dude” he said firmly, not taking his eyes off the guy who he now observed was wearing a metallic Spider-man suit and was pretty cute.

“Um hi? I’m Peter. Peter Parker” the boy said hesitantly, giving a small wave.

“I’m Harley” he said, before pointing casually at the suit the boy-_Peter_ he reminded himself- “You’re the Spider-Man?” 

The kid looked startled then, before realizing what he was wearing.

“Damn it, uh yeah I’m Spider-man, please don’t tell anyone” Peter said with a sigh of resignation.

Harley snickered and gestured around them, “Not sure there’s anyone here to tell” he teased.

“Oh right… I forgot about that” Peter answered shyly, fidgeting with his hands.

“So uh, do you know what’s going on? Or where the hell we are right now?” Harley asked, hoping Peter knew more than him.

“Well I was in space with Mr. Stark-” at that Harley’s eyes widened, “and we were fighting this big purple guy named Thanos cause he had this glove full of glowing rocks, and we met some aliens that helped us fight him and there was a wizard and he gave up the time stone to save Mr. Stark after he got stabbed and then Thanos portalled away. And then after a bit, the weird bug lady turned into dust then the other guys and the wizard and then me… It took longer for me, I think maybe it was my healing factor- and Mr. Stark was holding onto me and then... then I woke up here” Peter had spoken quite quickly, and Harley was definitely confused now.

“So, let me get this straight you were with Iron Man, a wizard and some aliens, in space, fighting a purple guys with magic rocks, then everyone turned to dust?” Harley asked incredulously.

“Um yeah that’s pretty much it really” Peter said, rubbing his hand on the back of his neck, feeling a little embarrassed by his rant.

“Right okay, well I was on Earth, in my garage when I disappeared and then I woke up here same as you.” Harley said hoping to calm Peter down a little. “Do you have any idea where exactly here is?” he then asked.

“No I don’t, sorry- but Thanos’ whole evil plan was to erase fifty percent of the universes population, so I guess we’re the part that got erased” Peter answered.

“Fuck” was all Harley could think to say, as he rubbed a weary hand over his face. He took a few deep breaths and tried to keep himself from freaking out.

Peter was silent now too, taking in his surroundings and the guy in front of him. He thought of Mr. Stark and Aunt May, Ned and MJ, hoping that they were the fifty percent that lived. 

“So, you know Iron Man?” Harley asked Peter, breaking the silence and aiming to distract them both from the bleak situation they found themselves in.

“Yeah Mr. Stark is great, he built me this suit and sometimes we work in his labs together to make cool stuff” Peter answered excitedly.

_He’s even cuter when he’s excited_, Harley thought. _Probably not the best time for that though._

“That’s really cool Peter, I know him too actually” Harley said. Peter looked surprised at that, so Harley continued, “Back in 2013, the whole Mandarin thing- Tony broke into my garage and I helped him fix his suit and fought some bad guys- we stayed in touch afterwards, I was actually in New York last week to visit.” 

“No way, that’s awesome- wow, yeah Mr. Stark said he had someone special visiting, he offered to introduce me but I had extra academic decathlon practice and couldn’t make it. How crazy would that of been, like meeting before all this happened” Peter said, mind reeling over the coincidence of finding Harley, of all people in this place.

“Do you think that’s why we appeared near each other? Like this can’t be a coincidence, right?” 

“I think that has something to do with it, statistically speaking the chance of us meeting here, wherever here is, is far too small without the influence of fate.”

Harley nodded slightly, considering this. Peter noticed the furrow between his brows and the slight downturn of his mouth and realized suddenly how attractive Harley was. The soft orange glow of the sky made him look almost angelic- _Beautiful, he thought._

“So, what now?” Harley said, shaking Peter from his stupor. 

“Um I guess we look for other people and go from there- if we find Dr. Strange, the wizard, I think he could tell us what’s going on” Peter proposed.

“Okay but, no matter what… we stick together?” Harley asked with a tentative smile.

“Together.” Peter answered with a smile of his own.

And with that, they made their way through the soul stone, searching for anyone who understood what had happened when Thanos snapped.


	8. Harley visits Tony at the Tower, and meets the team.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The start is a little similar to Chapter 1, but instead Harley comes to Tony at the Tower and once again prevents the rest of Age of Ultron

_What the hell was that?_ Is all Tony could think about as he boarded the quinjet with the team. Everyone else was going about their post battle routines, with the inclusion of hooking Clint up to the med bay- he’d been hit during the fight, but it wasn’t too serious.

Tony set the jet to Autopilot (which was JARVIS of course) and quickly excused himself to the bathroom. As soon as the door closed behind him, he sank to the floor and allowed the panic attack to take over him in full force.

He sat there, hyperventilating, shaking and crying as he thought obsessively of the Chitauri and the wormhole. He couldn’t handle the thought of them returning, of them coming back to Earth and winning this time.

The image of his dead teammates haunted him; he couldn’t shake the horrified expression permanently etched on their faces. Steve’s voice echoed in his mind, “_Why didn’t you do more?”_

Tony reached a shaking hand into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He scrolled his contacts, hovering briefly over Rhodey’s name, before remembering he was on mission- after hesitating a moment longer, Tony clicked Harley’s name.

_Please pick up kid_, Tony thought, _I really need you right now_. After several rings, Harley’s voice flooded his ears.

“Hey Mechanic”

Tony didn’t reply for a minute, just soaking in the warmth and comfort he felt when Harley spoke. It was like coming home, his mind settled and he felt the anxiety he’d been drowning in recede like the ocean during a low tide.

“Hi kid,” he said finally, his breath wasn’t at a normal pace yet, so he still sounded like he’d just been running. Harley of course noticed this immediately.

“Tony what’s wrong? Did you have an attack? Talk to me, you’re gonna be alright,” Harley rushed out then, voice full of worry.

“God Harley it was so horrible, they were back and they won because I couldn’t stop them- it was all my fault, the wormhole was open and they just killed everyone, the whole team… you, Rhodey, Pepper- even JARVIS wasn’t with me anymore and I don’t--” Tony rushed out then broke off abruptly, his breath coming out in harsh gasps.

“Tony slow down, take a few deep breaths and focus on my voice. You’re okay, the Chitauri aren’t back, I’m fine, Pepper and Rhodey are fine, the team is fine- we all safe, we’re all okay because you stopped them. You saved us all, remember?” Harley reassured as calmly as he could.

The tension in Tony’s body bled out slowly as Harley words washed over him, _this kid is far too good to me_.

“Tony you still there?”

“Yeah... I’m here Harls”

“Alright, well you sound a little better, are feeling okay?”

“Do you have time to see me right now?”

Harley was startled by the question, but excited, he always loved when Tony came to visit.

“Of course, old man, you gonna bring a suit?” he teased, adding a sense of normalcy to their conversation.

“Actually, I was wondering if you’d be alright with me sending Jay in a suit to pick you up and flying you to the tower this time?”

“ARE YOU SERIOUS!? TONY THAT WOULD BE AMAZING! YES PLEASE DO THAT!” Harley exclaimed so loudly Tony had to take the phone away from his ear, rather than risking deafness.

“Yeah I’m serious, I’ll send the suit in a minute- to be clear, JARVIS will control literally everything, which means he will listen if you ask him to slow down or stop but he will definitely ignore you if you try to fire any weapons or break any air space laws, okay?”

“Jeez okay Dad, damn. I’m not gonna do anything I’m not supposed too.”

“Funny, for some reason that doesn’t make me feel any better” Tony answered with a laugh, feeling infinitely better than before he’d made the call.

“I’ll be good, I promise.”

“Alright, well I’ll see you in a few hours- if you need anything just have JARVIS call me, okay?”

“Okay Tony I’ll see you soon,” Harley before hanging up. Once he was sure the call had ended, he threw himself off his bed and cheered. He couldn’t believe he was actually going to get to ride in an Iron Man suit™.

“J, can you send a suit to pick up Harley, you know the rules- don’t let him corrupt you” Tony said into his earpiece then.

“Of course, sir, I will collect Master Harley with no tomfoolery” Jarvis answered.

“Christ, the two of you teaming up is gonna kill me one day, I’m sure” Tony huffed out, bemused. He made his way back to the common area of the jet, and sat with his team, joking and laughing as they flew home.

\------------

Harley was standing in his backyard when the suit landed, the red and gold metal gleamed in the sunshine and Harley thought he might explode with joy.

“Master Harley” JARVIS voiced through the suit’s speakers.

“Hi JARVIS, is there somewhere we can put my backpack?” Harley said, suddenly nervous at the prospect of flying to New York in a tin can.

JARVIS simply turned around in lieu of answering and showed him the metal pouch on the back of the suit. It opened with a hiss, and Harley quickly shoved his bag inside.

“Are you ready to leave now?” JARVIS asked, turning back to ‘face’ Harley.

Harley took a deep breath, reminding himself how amazing this was going to be, and nodded.

The suit moved then, resizing itself to fit Harley perfectly before opening and allowing him to step inside. It sealed close with a gentle click, and Harley was encompassed in darkness. The holo screen lit up quickly, and Harley’s eyes darted around rapidly, as he tried to read every display at once.

_How the hell can Tony understand all this? There’s way more information needed to pilot this thing than I realized_, he thought to himself.

“Master Harley?” JARIVS’ voice startled him, “I’m going to take off now, just ask me any questions you have.”

“Okay J, I’m ready- let’s do this.”

JARVIS took off slowly, wanting to ease Harley into the experience. When he saw the smile shining on the young man's face, he increased the speed. Harley cheered suddenly, when they reached the clouds.

“FASTER! FASTER! THIS IS INCREDIBLE”

JARVIS obeyed, and greatly increased their speed- if he was able he’d be smiling too at the boys excitement.

It was only an hour and a half later, that they landed on the launch pad at the tower. Harley took a moment to appreciate the view, then asked JARVIS to let him out. The suit opened, and Harley stepped out- still beaming and practically shaking with happiness.

“Thank you, JARVIS, that was so awesome!”

“You’re quite welcome young sir, if you’d follow me to the lounge room, you can wait there for Tony to return.”

“Sounds good” Harley replied as they made their way inside.

Harley then flopped himself onto the couch and asked JARVIS to play ‘Big Hero 6’, the screen lit up in response, so he settled in to watch his favorite movie.

\---------

The Avengers (minus Tony) walked into the main floor of the tower, chatting amongst themselves easily. It was Steve who sensed Harley first, the rest of the team clocking on quickly- weapons were raised, and Bruce subtly moved away from the group, lest Big Green came out to play.

“JARVIS intruder alert!” Steve shouted, not taking his eyes off the boy on the couch- who at this stage hadn’t moved but was simply staring at them.

“My senses detect no intruders in the tower at this time, Captain Rogers” JARVIS answered calmly- well as calmly as an AI could.

“What did you do to JARVIS? Did you hack his systems? Is that why he can’t see you?” Steve then directed to the boy, stepping forward and raising his shield slightly.

“Careful Steve, if he’s smart enough to hack Stark’s AI, he’s a serious threat” Natasha said warningly.

“Okayyyyy well, if you’re finished with the posturing, I could explain that I didn’t hack Jarvis- we’re friends. Right J?” Harley said, subtly glancing around in search of Tony.

“Right indeed young sir, you are my friend” JARVIS answered.

Harley smiled at that, “Now that that’s settled, where’s the Mechanic?”

“Stop, nothing is settled kid, just because you made a computer say your friends, doesn’t mean shit- now tell us who you are and how the hell you got in here” Clint spoke up then, tightening his grip on his bow.

The team then all moved towards Harley, who felt a wave of genuine concern for a second, at the sight of Earth Mightiest Heroes looking like they’d break him in half without trying. His smile fell, until he spotted Tony heading towards them.

He smirked and leant back into the couch easily, as if ignoring the threat, the Avengers posed, and counted down from 5 with his fingers.

“Guys what the hell are you doing?” Tony said right on cue, as he came up behind them all.

“Tony there’s an intruder- be careful he’s compromised Jarvis” Steve explained to him.

Tony sighed upon hearing that, the team- Steve most of all, had no idea how JARVIS worked, they thought he was just a talking computer.

“No one can hack J” he answered, moving his way through the group crowding his couch, only to see Harley lounging there with a shit eating grin on his face.

“You’re a little shit you know” he said disapprovingly, but Harley could see the mischievous glint in his eyes.

“Yeah yeah, missed you too Dad” Harley sassed back.

“DAD!?” Clint, Steve and Thor said at the same time, shocked expressions frozen on their faces. Natasha looked curious, and Bruce was just confused.

“Harley don’t antagonize them” he told the little shit still smirking on his couch- he’s definitely gonna be the death of me.

“Anyway, guys this is Harley, my pseudo child, he’s not an intruder I promise” Tony said to the team then. This prompted them to lower their weapons, but they still seemed a little unsure.

“Come on now Tony, I could totally break in here if I tried” Harley teased.

“JARVIS would let you, so it totally doesn’t count” Tony bantered back. He suddenly remembered the team was there too, still looking confused.

“Right kid, I know you know this already but allow me to introduce you to; Captain America aka Steve Rogers, Hawkeye aka Clint Barton, Black Widow aka Natasha Romanoff, Thor aka uh... just Thor I guess and last but not least Dr. Bruce Banner aka The Hulk some of the time” Tony rambled, gesturing to his respective team members as he went.

“Hi” Harley greeted with a small wave, “I’m Harley, it’s cool to meet you.”

Bruce waved back shyly, which made Harley beam- Hulk was definitely his favorite avenger after Iron Man.

“I think we’ve stressed them out enough for one day, come on kid let's go to my lab” Tony said to Harley, then led him out of the room.

“How was the flight? JARVIS take good care of you?”

The Avengers heard as they left the room, no one moved for a minute, then Bruce declared Clint should probably head to the med bay- which led to him and Natasha escorting the archer there.

“I guess I’ll take this back to Asgard now then, and come back for the party” Thor said, gesturing with Loki's scepter.

Steve nodded in agreement, then followed the others to the med bay- _God today had been so strange_, he thought to himself, _that’s the life of an Avenger I suppose._


	9. What if Tony was waiting in Harley's upgraded garage?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What might've happened if Tony was waiting in Harely's garage at the end of Iron Man 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little smaller than usual, and definitely later than planned- I'm currently doing my university exams, but I will aim to be better organised in the future

It was an easy decision to remodel the kids’ garage. Harley had saved his life, and helped him with JARVIS and his suit, so Tony felt he should do something as a thank you.

It wasn’t hard to coordinate the upgrades to all take place while Harley was in school, as a surprise for the boy. Tony briefly considered leaving before Harley got home, but he ultimately decided he’d rather see the kids reaction and hopeful cement their friendship as ongoing, rather than over.

Tony was grateful he’d chosen this garage to break into, because meeting Harley was the best thing to have happened to him for a while. He felt connected to the kid, he was a little shit for sure, but Tony was too, so maybe they were destined to meet.

The sound of a school bus pulling up, spurred Tony into hiding out of sight. He had a feeling Harley would bypass the house and head straight into the garage now that he was home.

His instincts were accurate, and soon enough the wooden doors swung open to reveal the young boy.

Harley lit up in shock as he looked around his garage, in awe of the space that used to be filled with random junk, now contained a lab built by The Tony Stark™. Harley still couldn’t believe he’d met him, it was the greatest day of his life, aside from the whole fire-breathing psychos trying to kill him. 

He was standing there, thinking about everything that had happened when a voice suddenly spoke from the shadows to his left, shocking him from his stupor.

“I’ll take it that the look on your face means you like what I’ve done with the place” Tony teased, dramatically stepping out of the shadows to scare the kid, because why not.

Harley ran straight into Tony, and buried his face in his chest, in a hug he wasn’t confident would be appreciated.

“I wasn’t sure I’d see you again” Harley admitted, refusing to look at Tony as he spoke.

Tony held onto the boy for a few moments, feeling regret for the last time he’d seen him- he should of said he’d be back- Harley deserved to know if he was being left behind again.

“Come on kid, we’re connected- I’ll stick around as long as you’ll have me” Tony answered, gently removing himself from the kids death grip of a hug, to look him in the eye.

“Really?” he responded, clearly not believing the billionaire.

“Really. I swear it.”

“Okay Tony, I believe you... now can we test out the potato gun?”

And just like that, Harley ended the serious mood built up around them, though Tony was glad for the distraction, he wasn’t used to being so open with his feelings, and he had no idea what to do with kids.

“We can definitely test it out, I need your feedback- I’ve never built a potato gun before so, be nice… then tell me everything that you’d do better.”

\--------------------

Several hours into their lab play, Tony casually asked about the bullies from school.

“Those boys still giving you trouble?”

“Nah, they actually stopped after we saved EJ from drowning- he must’ve told everyone I was cool now or something I guess…” Harley trailed off, glad that school was no longer a place to be afraid of.

“Good, I’m glad they’ve finally realized how great you are- but please tell me if the bullying starts again, yeah?”

“I will, thank you Tony” Harley said smiling.

“So I’ve been thinking- if it’s okay with you I’d like to visit from time to time, and maybe one day you could come to Avengers Tower”

“Are you serious?!” Harley exclaimed in excitement, “Tony that would be amazing.”

“Cool, also I’ve installed a remote version of JARVIS into your computer, so you can talk to him and me through it when you want to.”

“Oh my god! Hello JARVIS,” Harley said to his computer happily.

“Hello young Sir, it is wonderful to talk to you again” JARVIS answered.

“Are you feeling better now?”

“Indeed, I am back to 100% functionally” the AI replied honestly.

“That’s good, I’m glad there’s no more cranberries” Harley said with a giggle.

“Me too young Sir, it’s good to be back to normal” JARVIS said sounding happier than an artificial intelligence should be able to- but he was made by Tony Stark, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that he sounded so human.

“This is amazing Tony.” 

“I’m glad you like it” Tony said smiling back at him.

Harley hugged him again, hoping to convey just how much Tony’s actions meant to him.

“Thank you Tony... for everything” Harley whispered, sincerity in his tone, finally accepting that the man he has looked up to his whole life was no longer just an unbreakable superhero, but is now his friend, someone that he trusts above all else. 

_ It’s probably because they’re connected right? _


	10. What if Harley was in New York during Spider-man Homecoming?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harley and Tony are at the tower during moving day, and Peter gets to see Tony's lab

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi sorry for the massive hiatus, life just got in the way- moving, new job, "relationship" troubles and just life in general- but I'm back now and plan to pump out a few chapters in the next few weeks, so thanks for sticking with me :)

_ Everything ready to go boss man? - _ TS

Happy stared at the screen for a moment, huffing in amusement at his boss’s antics before typing back a reply.

_ Not yet, the kid still coming to help? - _ HH

The response was instantaneous.

_ He’s on his way up now. - _ TS

Happy was smiling at his phone, when the elevator dinged. The doors opened to reveal a 15 year old Harley Keener, his hair wild and his clothes grease stained.

“You come from Tony’s lab?” 

“You know it, Smiles” Harley answered with a wink.

“Thought I told you not to call me that” Happy said, while definitely not smiling.

“You might’ve mentioned it once or twice” Harley teased.

“Alright kid- you just gonna stand around all day or do you actually plan on helping me with this stuff?

Harley snickered, and Happy allowed a slightly bemused expression to grace his face for a moment, before he schooled it back into the one of neutral displeasure he always wore.

Happy pointed to a pile of boxes to his left, “Start with those, then call out once they’re all on the jet.”

Harley nodded and grabbed a box, which was surprisingly light, leading him to believe today was going to be easy. Naturally the next box he touched, had him straining with effort. ‘ _ Who the hell packed these, don’t they know anything about weight distribution.’ _

This pattern continued for 20 minutes, and Harley was sick of it. “Why do I agree to these things-  **because you’re an idiot Harley** ... oh yeah that’s why.”

“Wow, I see it didn’t even take half an hour for you to go crazy without me huh?” Tony said, suddenly behind Harley.

“Jesus!” Harley yelped, and jumped back in shock.

“Please call me Tony, but I suppose the analogy works as I am here to save you” Tony teased. “I thought you might be bored, so I’ve come to liberate you”

“Why’d you make me come up here at all?”

“Well my forehead of security needed help and you’re a strong guy so I figured you’d be up for it” Tony answered.

“Ugh okay, well can we go back to the lab now at least?”

“Sure kid, lets go.”

They walked to the elevator together, and stepped on. 

“So there’s this kid I’d like you to meet- I think you’ll get along well. His name is Peter, you’re the same age and yeah he’s pretty brilliant too-”

“Is he here now?” Harley interrupted.

“No, no he’s at school but I was gonna go pick him up now and show him the lab”

Harley nodded at his mentors words, wondering how Tony met another kid.  _ Maybe he broke into his garage too? _

“Ok well I’ll just keep working on my bot until you get back then” 

“Sounds good Harls, see you in a bit” Tony called out, making his way out of the lab, towards the garage.

\---------

Harley had been so focused on the wiring of his bots left arm, he didn’t hear anyone approach until they were already in the lab.

The other kid,  _ Peter _ his mind reminded, was bouncing with excitement as he looked around the room.

“Wow Mr. Stark this place is incredible- thank you for showing me” Peter rushed out, eyes wide as he tried to take everything in at once.

“Holy shit! You’re the Spider-man” Harley blurted, causing both Peter and Tony to flinch and face him.

“What no- I’m not the- why- why would you think that?” Peter said, finally managing to finish a sentence.

“Well you’re the right size, Tony trusts you, and I saw the footage of the airport fight- your voice and the fact you just called him ‘Mr. Stark’ lead me to the obvious conclusion that you are Spider-man.”

After Harley had finished his speech, the only sound in the lab was Peter’s rapid breathing.

“Sir, I recommend sitting Mr. Parker down and doing a few breathing exercises, as his heart-rate is dangerously elevated at the moment “ JARVIS announced then, shattering the silence that had formed after Harley’s words.

“Shit Peter, it’s alright.... He’s not going to tell anyone, everything's fine” Tony soothed, while rubbing circles on Peter’s back.

Harley stood back watching them for several moments, before cautiously approaching the duo, hands in front of him like he was moving towards a wild animal.

“Hey I’m sorry, it’s okay- Tony’s right, I’m not going to tell anyone. I promise.”

Peter looked up at him then, eyes desperate as he searched Harley’s face for any sign of a lie. When he found none, he took a slow shuddering breath and nodded gratefully. Harley sighed and nodded back.

“Okay, see we’re all okay” Tony reassured, before turning towards him with one eyebrow raised, “So Harley… have you learned a lesson in exposing people’s secret identities without warning?”

Harley looked at the floor and nodded slowly. “I’m really sorry, I just got excited I guess” he answered solemnly.

“I know kid, it’s alright- now on to better and brighter things… Harley Keener I’d like you to officially meet Peter Parker aka Spider-man, Peter this is Harley” Tony introduced, with a wave of his hand between them.

The boys made eye contact and smiled shyly at each other. 

“Do you want to see the bot I’m building right now?” Harley asked Peter then, gesturing to the corner of the lab he’d claimed from Tony.

“You build robots too? That’s awesome dude” Peter said, jumping up and rushing to where Harley had pointed.

“Yeah I’ve been working on this little guy for a few weeks now, Tony’s helping me make a basic AI too” Harley explained.

“Wow this is so cool,” Peter said, while picking up one of the arms Harley had completed and inspecting it closely. 

“So you built this all yourself?”

“Well the old man helped some, but mostly it was me- I’ve been making things since I was a little kid. When Tony and I met, he’d broken into my garage so I threatened him with a potato gun that I built.”

“You threatened Mr. Stark- Iron Man, with a potato gun?” Peter asked incredulously.

“Well it was during the whole ‘Manadarin’ thing where he was presumed dead, his suit was wasn't working, and he was in my garage so… potato gun.”

Tony stood back and smiled at his protigee’s getting along. He figured they would, what with their love for science and engineering, the similar age and of course their relationship with him.

He had a feeling he was witnessing the start of a wonderful friendship.

And as always, he was right.


	11. What if Harley and Peter got to spend some time together?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is set before Infinity War so the boys are like 16-17, and it continues on from the last chapter- so pre established friendship and stuff. Harley upgrades Peter's suit and his relationship status :)

It was a regular Tuesday afternoon that Peter decided that today was the day he would finally change the nature of his relationship with Harley. Peter had come to the compound after school to hang out with Mr. Stark and Harley. Tony had been practically begging Peter to stop calling him that, because it quote “made him feel like an old man”, but Peter loved annoying him now that they were closer.

He was looking forward to seeing Harley especially. He’d been harbouring a serious crush on the boy since the day they'd met and he’d figured out Peter was Spider-man in like 4 seconds.

They’d bonded over a love of engineering & science, and their similar taste in movies- though they still often argued the merits of Star Wars vs Star Trek, Peter was confident one day he’d win Harley over to the dark side.

When Peter walked into the East Wing common room, Harley was sprawled out on his favourite couch. DATA, his helper bot/ personal AI was standing vigilant by his side as usual. They’d been inseparable since Harley had finished building him.

“Hey Harls” Peter greeted, throwing himself onto the couch next to his favourite boy.

“Hey Peter, how was school?” Harley said back, snuggling closer as Peter got comfortable.

“Oh you know pretty normal. Ned was cool, MJ was a savage and Flash was Flash. And I nailed my spanish test so” Peter answered with a smile.

“Nice work, told you you’d smash it” Harley congratulated with a bright smile of his own, that flooded Peter’s stomach with butterflies.

“Thanks,” Peter replied, smiling widely in return, “What are we watching today?”

“Lord of the rings.”

“Perfect, FRIDAY please lower the lights & start ‘Fellowship of the Ring’ please” Peter requested.

“Of course Mr. Parker” FRIDAY answered, as the lights dimmed and the screen in front of them lit up.

\-------

At the introduction of Aragorn, Peter was reminded of the first time they watched the movie together. It was back when they’d only known each other for a few months. They were in a similar position to the one they’re in now, except back then they kept a casual 3 feet distance between them on the couch.

Nowadays they sat pressed together from thigh to shoulder most often, sometimes laying with their heads in the others lap. If either of them had a bad day, they would link their fingers together and draw comfort from the simple act of holding hands.

As Aragorn revealed his face on screen, Harley had spoken suddenly.

“He was my gay awakening you know?”

“You’re gay?” Peter asked surprised.

“That a problem?” Harley answered, ready to take a defensive position against the boy across from him.

“No of course not, I’m just a little surprised is all… does Mr. Stark know?” Peter rushed out, hoping to clear any awkwardness.

“Yeah he knows, back when we first met he figured out I was being bullied and asked me why. Once I explained why I was being targeted, he went to my school and yelled a lot- it was pretty cool” Harley explained.

“That sucks, but I’m glad Mr. Stark had your back- I promise to have it as well, if you ever need more superhero back up” Peter joked.

“Thanks dude.”

“No problem Harls… and for the record Legolas was my bi awakening” Peter said with a snicker.

“Good choice” Harley agreed with a laugh.

And that was that. They turned back to the movie and continued enjoying the epicness onscreen.

\-------

Peter smiled softly at the memory and settled further into the couch.

Hours later, when the movie was done they made their way down to the lab Tony had gifted them. They used to share a side if Tony’s main lab, but they made so many messes down there, he just built one for them.

He still hung out whenever he could, and was always around if the boys needed help, but having their own space was something they both appreciated.

Over the years of knowing Tony, Harley had gotten a lot better at coding & engineering and now was basically solely in charge of maintaining Peter’s suit. Tony and Peter were involved too of course, but Harley was the lead.

That afternoon he was particularly excited to show Peter his latest suit modification- nanobots that functioned as miniature retro reflector panels, that covered the whole suit and rendered it invisible. He and Tony had been working on them for a while, because Harley had joked about making his own version of the ‘Iron Spider’ suit just so he could cover it in regular retro reflector panels.

This naturally led to an all nighter brainstorming session, that resulted in the pair of them designing nanobots that would form a second skin over Peter’s suit and allow a perfect form of camouflage.

“Alright I reckon you’re gonna like this one, just go put the suit on like normal and I’ll show you what I’ve done to it this time,” Harley said as he sat at his main workbench in their lab.

“Sounds like a plan,” Peter said, walking over to his suit and starting to shed his clothes.

Harley spun his stool around to give Peter privacy as he changed, but after a moment of deliberation he decided to sneak a peak over his shoulder-  _ sue him _ , Peter was gorgeous.

As he turned slightly and looked over his shoulder, Harley was met with the sight of Peter Parker, clad only in boxers, staring straight at him.

Peter smirked as Harley blushed, then in a rare bout of confidence winked, making Harley’s cheeks burn brighter.

Harley couldn’t even breathe, his mind was racing,  _ ‘Peter totally knows how hot he is, and how gay I am and oh god he’s totally teasing me on purpose’. _ Harley let his head fall onto the bench in front of him, with an echoing thud.

“God Peter… you’re killing me” he muttered under his breath.

When Peter snickered in response, Harley was reminded suddenly that Peter has super senses and most definitely heard that.

Too busy praying for the ground to open up and swallow him whole, he didn’t notice Peter crossing the room and coming to a stop next to him.

He half fell off the stool when Peter knocked his hand on Harley’s shoulder twice.

“Earth to Harley… you okay there?” Peter teased gently.

“Oh yeah I’m fine, totally not dying of embarrassment here” Harley said sarcastically.

Peter was staring into Harley’s eyes as he spoke. Harley felt his heart stop, when Peter’s gaze drifted from his eyes, down to his lips then back up again.

Peter tilted his head questioningly and Harley nodded in answer.  _ Yes, gods yes. _

Peter surged forward then, pressing their lips together in a long awaited kiss. It was simple yet so completely perfect.

Harley was on top of the world, Peter Parker- his long time crush, close friend & in his opinion, the cutest superhero alive- was kissing him. Plain old Harley Keener, just some kid from Tennessee.

Peter pulled back slowly and rested his forehead against Harley’s.

“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that” Peter said with an easy smile. He reached forward and linked his fingers with Harley’s shyly.

“Gosh that’s adorable huh FRIDAY” Tony interrupted out of nowhere.

“Tony!”

“Mr. Stark!”

The boys yelled at the same time, jumping apart but keeping their hands together.

“Boss it seems you startled them” FRIDAY said, sounding far more amused then an AI should be able to.

“Seems that way yes. Sorry to interrupt boys, I just wanted to come see the new suit. How was I supposed to know today was the day you finally stopped pining after one another and actually did something about it- which I’m happy about for the record” Tony reasoned.

“Totally appreciate the support old man, but we’re tryna have a moment here, so can you…” Harley trailed off, gesturing to the door Tony had emerged through.

“Right of course, I’ll just-” Tony nodded and pointed to the door, “Don’t do anything I would do” he called over his shoulder with a chuckle.

“Oh god” Peter groaned.

Harley and Peter looked at each other and promptly burst out laughing. It took them several moments to calm down enough to be able to talk again.

“So...”

“So…”

“Is this a thing now?” Harley asked gingerly, hoping to hell that they were on the same page.

“I hope so, do you want it to be?” Peter said honestly.

“Yes, yes this is a thing now” Harley confirmed.

They smiled warmly at each other and kissed again.

“Congratulations boys” FRIDAY interrupted gently.

“Thanks FRI,” Harley replied, before releasing Peter’s hand “Now go put on the suit, I wanna show you my upgrade.”

Once the suit was on, Harley led Peter over to the mirror set up in the corner for occasions like this.

“Ready?”

“Ready.” Peter confirmed with a nod.

Harley smiled and activated the nanobots.

Peter gasped as he disappeared from sight. Harley beamed proudly,  _ ‘It works perfectly!’ _

“Holy shit- you made nanobot retro reflectors?” Peter’s voice questioned somewhere in front of him.

“Right, I forgot how smart you are. Yes that’s exactly what I did. What do you think?”

“It’s absolutely brilliant Harls. You’re brilliant. Thank you so much for this” Peter said earnestly.

Harley blushed at Peter’s words. Then cleared his throat in an attempt to control his emotions.

“You’re welcome Parker.”

Harley deactivated the bots, and pulled the now visible Peter into his arms in a bone crushing hug. Reveling in the feel of Peter’s impossibly strong arms around him, Harley sighed in contentment and smiled to himself.

With his face pressed into his boyfriend's shoulder, Peter smiled too.

_ I could stay here forever _ \- their thoughts echoed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to my best bud for the inspiration


	12. What if Harley got to really be apart of Endgame?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Imagine my boy Harley having an actual role in Endgame, getting to fight and stuff. This chapter covers Infinity War (briefly) and Endgame and continues on from 10 & 11 (Peter x Harley)- Peter is still snapped, and some of the content is straight from the movies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is the biggest one so far, as I covered IW then Endgame all at once, due to my salt levels I save Natasha instead of Clint, and as usual focus on Harley and Tony above all else :) let me know if it worked ✌

Harley was scared. No scratch that, Harley was absolutely terrified.

He had been at the compound with Rhodey & Pepper, as they huddled together and watched in horror as his boyfriend was beamed up, and his “father” took off into space after him.

As Pepper listened to Tony’s call, Rhodey and Harley stood by her side- heard her beg him to come home, held her tightly as her fiancé’s voice cut out and FRIDAY announced she’d lost the signal.

Hours later, once Pepper was asleep- Harley pleaded with Rhodey, desperate to be kept in the loop, Rhodes eventually conceded. So, when the Rogue Avengers had arrived at the compound, Rhodey told him to go to Tony’s lab, and watch the feed via FRIDAY’s cameras.

When they had packed up to go to Wakanda, Rhodes looked straight into the camera, and told him to look after himself and Pepper until he came back.

Harley felt the snap- he didn’t understand how, but he just knew. He knew the second Peter had turned to dust in Tony’s arms. He felt his heart stutter and let himself collapse in Pepper’s welcoming arms.

She didn’t understand what was wrong, but she did what she could to soothe the heartbroken boy- praying that Tony and Peter would come home soon.

\--------------------

He wanted to give up.

Watching Peter Parker, his kid, turn to dust in his arms, as he just sat there uselessly- it was his breaking point.

He wanted to go home. Home to Pepper, to Rhodey, to Harley. God how was he supposed to tell Harley- that was of course counting on him still being alive too.

Every day he spent on this ship with Nebula he thought about giving up. Told himself that the universe was cruel enough, that Thanos was cruel enough to have taken the rest of his family too. That if he somehow didn’t starve to death in space, he’d return to a world that held nothing left in it for him.

But instead of letting those thoughts win, instead of trusting that hollow, desolate part of his mind- he chose to listen to the hopeful side. To the side that told him Pepper, Harley and Rhodey were anxiously waiting for him to come home to them.

_‘I’m coming… just hold on for me.’_

\-------------------

Harley was curled up on his favourite couch, watching Moonlight, with DATA sitting guard faithfully by his feet. Pepper and Rhodey were on the couch with him, the three of them finding comfort nowadays just by being together.

It had been weeks since Thanos’ attack- weeks of the universe reeling in the shock of losing half of its population. The surviving Avengers had helped where they could, but it was still impossible to even tell how much damage the Titan had caused.

FRIDAY paused the movie abruptly, breaking the blanket of comfort the room had held for several hours.

“Something has entered the atmosphere above the compound- it doesn’t appear to be hostile” the AI said smoothly as the building began to shake.

The three of them rushed out to the lawn with the others and watched as Carol set the spaceship she had been, carrying down as if it weighed nothing- perhaps to her it didn’t.

The doors opened with a hiss, and those gathered watched on in shock as a blue, cyborg lady walked down the ramp. Supporting the weight of an injured, malnourished Tony Stark.

Harley was in Tony’s arms before anyone could blink. They were both crying, clinging to each other desperately.

“Please tell me Peter’s on this ship too” Harley begged, deep down already knowing the answer.

“I’m so sorry Harls- I couldn’t stop it… I couldn’t save him” Tony sobbed out in response.

Rhodey caught them both before they collapsed, no one knew how to react to the absolute anguish the father and son were feeling.

Pepper joined them on the ground, then the makeshift family just clung to each other furiously, as if they would fade away if they stopped touching.

The other Avengers looked on in pity, it had been an agonising few weeks for them, not knowing if Tony and Spider-man were even still alive. 

“I’m sorry to disturb your reunion, it's great to see you Tony- but I think you need medical attention quite urgently, so how about we head inside” Bruce interrupted softly, greatly concerned at the state of his science bro.

Rhodes and Harley stood quickly, lifting Tony to stand between them. Tony reached his hand out towards the newcomer and smiled when she took it.

“Come on Nebula, you too.”

As the group slowly made their way inside, Harley thanked any god with their ears on that Tony had come home.

Once Bruce had checked Tony over, they set him up at the dining table. Harley sat to his left, pressing their legs together, desperate for the contact.

Steve cleared his throat and flinched slightly when Harley glared at him.

“Right so Tony, I’m glad you’re alive-” he started to say before Harley interrupted him with a snort.

“Is there something funny kid?” Steve then asked instead.

“Yeah actually just because the world’s gone to hell- doesn’t mean I have to listen to your bullshit” Harley spat at the captain- a man he could not forgive for hurting Tony.

“Language” reprimanded Steve without thought.

“Fuck off Grandpa” Harley snapped back.

“Alright enough, Harls I know you’re hurting right now but this isn’t the time” Tony cut in before Harley could run his mouth further.

Harley opened his mouth to argue back anyway but closed it once he saw the expression on Tony’s face.

“Fine. What is it you were saying Captain?” Harley conceded, still managing to make the rank sound like an insult.

“Right, thank you Tony. I was just hoping you could tell us about your fight with Thanos?” Steve asked a tad impatiently.

“Fight? What fight? What happened up there wasn’t a fight Captain, it was a psychopath wiping our faces with a planet” sneered Tony.

“Tony come on- surely there was more to it. Did you at least get a hint to his next move?” Steve continued, “I need you to focus.”

“And I needed you. Past tense.” retorted Tony, standing from the table, and stalking towards his ex-teammate. “I’ve got nothing for you Cap. I got no coordinates, no clues, no strategies, no options. Zero. Zip. Nada. No trust. Liar.” Tony finished.

Steve’s face fell at that, and Harley internally marvelled at the sight of the great Captain America being put in his place so thoroughly.

“Harley get me out of here before I say anything worse” Tony asked the boy quickly.

Harley was by Tony’s side in an instant, guiding him back to the med bay smoothly. Whatever the Avengers were planning, they didn’t need Tony for it.

Once Tony was in bed, Harley pulled up a chair next to him and gently took his left hand between both of his.

“Are you okay old man? You kinda scared me back there” Harley said tenderly.

“Sorry kiddo, it's just seeing St-Rogers back here, acting like we’re still a team just threw me off a little” Tony replied honestly.

“I understand that, I don’t like the way he was talking to you- demanding answers and that” Harley grumbled, still annoyed at the way the Captain came at Tony like that.

“Yeah that’s just how he is I’m afraid, but enough about him. How are you feeling?” Tony questioned.

“I’m okay, honestly- I’m so glad you’re home, Rhodes and Pepper have got to be sick of me now…” He tried to joke, but it fell flat.

“Never. You know how much they love- Look I’m not sure if you want to talk about it yet but I need to say this,” Tony took a deep breath to steel himself before continuing, “I am so sorry I couldn’t bring Peter home to you, he fought so hard up there Harley, you would've been so proud of him” Tony explained, a mixture of regret and pride present in his voice.

Tears fell down Harley’s cheeks as Tony spoke, both of them missing Peter more than anything.

“I know you did everything you could Dad, please don’t blame yourself” Harley consoled.

Tony nodded, and pulled Harley into a bone crushing hug- well as much of one as he could manage in his current state.

“Tell me about it- all of it. I need to know what happened up there” Harley requested, while snuggling into Tony’s side, careful not to jostle his stab wound too much.

“Sure thing kid. So, Pepper and I were in the city on a jog, when this wizard guy opened a portal…”

\----------

5 years had flown by. After the surviving Avengers had killed Thanos, everyone headed off in their own directions, few staying to help heal the universe.

Pepper, Tony, and Harley moved into a lakeside cabin that Tony had had stashed away for a while. Harley practically lived with them before Thanos, so after the snap took his mother and sister, it was only logical for Harley to stay with his ‘parents’ for real.

Rhodey stopped by when he could, as he mostly focused his efforts in helping the world get back on its feet, but for the most part they were left alone.

Pepper and Tony had gotten married in a small ceremony, as many of the guest list had been erased by the mad Titan. A year into their new life, Morgan was born. Harley stepped into the role of big brother easily, and she became the light of his life, from the first moment she was placed in his arms.

He still missed Peter more than he’d thought was possible, the years doing nothing to ease the ache of losing him.

So, the day the Avengers came seeking Tony’s help, Harley was by his side- practically begging for them to try.

He understood Tony’s reluctance, the idea that they could make things worse, the chance that they could ruin what they have built since the snap terrified Harley.

But the chance that they could bring everyone back… could bring Peter back, it was too hard to ignore. Thus, they did the math, and ran countless simulations with FRIDAY until finally, they made it work.

“Shit!” Tony exclaimed, when FRIDAY confirmed the model would work.

“Shit” Morgan parroted from her perch on the staircase.

Harley snickered, and Tony shut him up with a look.

“What are you doing up little miss?” coaxed Tony.

“Shit” Morgan said again, cheeky smile overtaking her face afterwards.

“Harley don’t you dare,” Tony cut in before Harley could encourage his sisters use of the word.

“That’s mummy’s word okay” Tony urged, praying she wasn’t going to go repeat it to Pepper.

“Why are you awake?” Morgan questioned then, eyes darting between her dad and her big brother.

“Just working in a project sweetie, but we’re all done now” Tony answered easily, taking her hand, and leading her back to her room.

Once Morgan was tucked into bed, Tony and Harley sat down on the lounge with Pepper.

“I think we could bring everyone back, but we don’t know what that will do to the present- we don’t know what we’ll lose” Tony told his wife, unsure if he wanted her to tell him not to do it, or to support the idea.

“You need to do this Tony, both of you. These last 5 years have been great for us, but there has always been something missing. There’s this hole in our lives and I think doing this, trying to fix what happened, is the only way forward” Pepper encouraged, knowing that if anyone could pull this off, it was the men sitting across from her.

“Are you sure Pep?”

“Go to the compound boys, do what you have to do, then come home to us” she declared.

“Well you heard her, pack a bag Harls- we got work to do” Tony said.

I’m coming with?” Harley asked in confusion, having expected to be left with Pepper and Morgan.

“You’re 22 Harley, I think it's time you joined the team” Tony declared.

“Finally” Harley smiled.

\---------- 

Steve looked surprised when Harley stepped out of the car too but refrained from comment at Tony’s warning look. He was an adult now after all, and once Steve watched him work with Tony and Bruce then he understood that Harley was useful.

He seamlessly worked with Tony, got on fantastically with Rocket (which was a little scary actually) and threw around terms with Bruce that made Steve feel like he was watching a Sci-fi film.

As they brainstormed the stones locations, and best times to retrieve them, Harley stared at the footage of Tony flying through the wormhole, pained expression settling over his face.

Tony sat next to him and whispered a quick “What’s wrong Harls?” low enough that the conversation around them continued on uninterrupted.

“It’s just… if you hadn’t come back through, I never would’ve met you, or Peter and I wouldn’t be a part of this” Harley explained, gesturing to the room of incredible beings. That he had somehow found himself working alongside.

“I know, but it’s okay- I lived and you’re here with me now and we’re going to bring Peter back” Tony reassured him honestly, genuinely believing that they could pull off this impossible plan.

“The battle of New York was insane though, I mean- Loki, an alien army and 3 infinity stones in the same place!” Harley listed, still feeling overwhelmed with his current reality.

“3? What do you mean?” Tony questioned, neither of them realising that the room had quieted as everyone turned to listen to him.

“Well Loki used the space stone for the portal, the mind stone was in his sceptre and the time stone was at the wizards place in New York, right? So, 3 stones, one time” Harley explained easily.

“Oh damn”

“Good thinking kid”

“Nice job Harls” Tony beamed, pulling his kid into a quick hug.

\----------------

Harley agreed to stay behind and monitor the equipment, while the others conducted the ‘time heist’. Tony looked surprised when he had volunteered but chose not to push him on it.

He looked on nervously as the team disappeared from the podium. He counted to 10 out loud, and if his voice shook, well that was for him to know and nobody else to find out.

When only 9 people returned, Harley’s heart lurched. Watching Natasha fall to her knees in anguish, had him rushing to Tony’s side- desperate for a hug, feeling more like a child than he had in years.

The remaining Avengers took a day to mourn Clint and swallow the guilt of knowing his wife and kids would come back to a world without their father.

\--------

Tony pulled Harley to the side moments before the team gathered with the stones.

“I know I can’t ask you to sit this fight out, but I can do everything possible to make you safe. You knew that I built Pepper a suit, and we’d worked on one for you before Thanos happened. So here” Tony stated, firmly placing an arc reactor in Harley’s hand.

Harley looked at it in shock, he had actually just been handed his own Iron Man suit. ‘_Holy shit!’_

“This will manifest as a nano tech suit like mine- well yours is black and gold but still. FRIDAY is uploaded, and it has a direct link to my suit too… What do you think?”

“Tony- I don’t know what to say. Just- thank you… thank you for everything. This is... amazing, I’ll make you proud I promise” gushed Harley.

“Harley I’m proud every day of the man you’ve become, and I’m so grateful you’re here with me for this” Tony promised, pulling Harley into his arms resolutely.

\--------- 

When the moment came, the moment one of them would snap their fingers and God willing, fix the universe, the anticipation seemed to suck the air out of the room. 

As Bruce moved to put on the gauntlet, Harley tensed nervously from his position next to Tony. They both stood suited up, shielding Natasha. As the glove moved into position, everything went to shit- Bruce screamed in agony but managed to snap his fingers before collapsing, his right arm burned horribly.

“Did it work?” someone asked, but no one knew how to answer, so the question echoed in the silent room- silent bar the harsh panting of the barely conscious hulk.

A shrill ringtone broke the silence, Harley collapsed the suit around his arms and head to answer it.

“Mom?” he breathed out in shock.

“Harley thank god! Where are y-” his mother started to say but was unknowingly cut off as the compound was shot to pieces around her son.

\-------------

Harley wasn’t sure how much time had passed when he woke up. His new suit was wrapped safely around him, and it seemed to be doing a good job of preventing the section of building he was pinned under from crushing him completely.

“FRIDAY? Tony? Can anyone hear me?” he asked frantically, trying to stop the panic attack looming at the back of his brain from overwhelming him.

“Harley? Thank fuck- are you okay?” Tony’s voice came through seconds later, and Harley felt some of the panic fall away, knowing his Dad was out there.

“I’m okay, just trapped under a heap of rubble- what’s going on?”

“Thanos- Thanos from a different time attacked us, but don’t think about that right now okay? Just hold tight, I’m coming” 

“Okay Tony” Harley whispered, trusting that Tony would come for him, but terrified he would not be found.

Tony called out to Steve and Thor, then took off towards Harley’s signal. He scanned over the rubble furiously until he finally spotted the black and gold armoured hand. Tony crouched, and lifted the concrete slab pinning his kid down as fast as he could.

Harley shot forward as soon as the weight was off his back, tackling Tony into a desperate hug.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you. Dad I was so scared” Harley sobbed into Tony’s shoulder.

“It’s alright son, I’ve got you, you’re okay” Tony soothed, cursing the universe for ever putting Harley in this situation.

Lightning formed in the sky over the site where Tony had left Steve and Thor fighting the mad Titan. Though now as he looked on at the battle, he realised Thor was down for the count, it was just Steve still fighting.

Just Steve standing off against Thanos and his entire army. Just Steve- one man, standing shakily, broken shield on one arm, Thor’s hammer gripped firmly in the other, facing off against the deadliest being in the universe.

“Come on Harls- let’s end this”

They flew towards Steve in sync, landing at his right, weapons primed. Steve and Tony locked eyes, and nodded slightly- if this was it, then they were going down together, no matter what.

Time seemed to freeze, as Sam’s voice came through their comms.

“Hey Cap can you hear-” A crackle. “It’s Sam can you-” Another crackle, somehow feeling a thousand times louder than the last.

“On- On your left.” 

The sky behind them erupted in a sea of orange portals, and they watched in amazement as all the dusted Avengers returned, alongside the Guardians, Asgard’s warriors, hundreds of sorcerers, and countless others.

At Steve’s command, “AVENGERS… assemble”, they charged, and the two armies met in a brutal battle.

Harley fought with everything he had, blasting aliens left and right, doing what he could to help his allies.

He watched on in horror as a pack of Chitauri soldiers swarmed a target. He charged towards them firing his repulsors madly, desperate to help whoever was under there, praying that they were okay.

When Peter, in his shiny Iron Spider suit, launched out of the pile and fought off the remaining soldiers- Harley felt like for the first time in 5 years, he could truly catch his breath.

He landed beside his boyfriend and pulled him into a fierce hug, clinging tighter than he ever had before- still not quite believing he was really there.

“Peter… I missed you so fucking much” he sobbed into Peter’s neck, knowing his boy would hear the muffled words.

“Harley god… you got taller” Peter choked out in reply, startling a laugh from the man in his arms.

They pulled back and simply looked at each other for a moment.

“This still okay?” Harley asked as his gaze dropped to Peter’s lips.

Peter pulled Harley into a long-awaited kiss in lieu of answering, pouring every ounce of love he had into it. Breaking apart, they leant their foreheads together and shared a breath.

“I love you”

“I love you more”

“Let’s go kick some ass” Harley declared, as they threw themselves back into the fray.

The battle raged on, and the plan for the stones was made. As the gauntlet was passed from Avenger to Avenger, in a frantic game of keep away, Harley saw his boyfriend catch it and immediately get charged by a horde of Chitauri.

Harley took off in his direction, as Peter latched a web onto Thor’s hammer, thrown powerfully by Cap. When the web snapped, Harley caught Peter’s free hand, and flew towards the van.

“I got you babe, don’t wor-” Harley was cut off, as they were shot out of the sky.

Thanos’ ship ceased firing at the ground suddenly, turning its guns to something else in the sky. The heroes watched in awe as Captain Marvel obliterated the Titan’s ship, by flying through it.

At Steve’s word, she landed in front of Peter and prepped to take the glove the rest of the way.

The fight turned uglier after that, as Thanos slipped into desperation. Tony came at him hard, before being tossed aside, then Carol took over and for a second it seemed she may win.

But Thanos moved the power stone into his other hand and swung a punch at her that likely would have killed anyone else.

Tony lunged at the Titan as he tried to snap his fingers, grappling for the gauntlet wildly, before being thrown back once more.

“I am inevitable” Thanos boomed, raising his arm, and snapping his fingers.

A metal clink was the only outcome, and Thanos turned his hand over in shock, only to see 6 empty spaces where the stones should be.

“And I… am… Iron Man” Tony declared, raising his hand in response. The rainbow glow of the stones casted his face in an ethereal light, his veins were illuminated brightly, his eyes broadcasted pain and pure determination.

He steeled himself for the agony sure to come, remembering the damage done to Bruce. _‘I’m not gonna survive this, but it’s the only way’._

With a final shaky breath, he snapped.

The effect was immediate. Across the battlefield Thanos’ followers fell, reduced to dust the same way half the universe was 5 years ago.

As his army vanished to nothing, Thanos moved to a large piece of rubble, and sat slowly. The weight of his situation sat heavy on his shoulders, and he sighed, fading into ash to be carried away on the wind.

It was finally over. They had won.

Tony was losing consciousness now, could feel the darkness looming at the back of his mind, and he welcomed it. It was over now, no one could hurt him anymore.

He spared a thought for Pepper, his amazing wife. For Rhodey, his oldest and truest friend. For Morgan, his beautiful daughter, who he wishes he could see grow up. For Peter, his brave, brilliant mentee. And for Harley, his son, who had helped more than he would ever know. (His job wasn’t over, yet it seemed.) 

“Tony! Fuck- stay with me” Harley fretted, looking helplessly at Tony’s injuries.

“Har.. Harley?” Tony wheezed, voice cracking with effort over the single word.

“FRIDAY how is he- what do I do?” he begged the AI.

“He’s alive, the Arc reactor appears to have diluted the energy surge from the stones. If you raise your arm towards him, I’ll activate the med spray” her robotic voice answered.

Harley lifted his hand and watched as the white spray coated what was left of Tony’s right arm. The burns went up his neck, over the right side of his face and from what he could tell covered his torso too.

He heard footsteps approach, turning as Pepper, Rhodes and Peter came up behind them.

“Is he..?” Rhodey started to ask, obviously scared to hear the answer.

“He’s alive, but he needs help. Now.” Harley told them, failing to keep the desperation out of his voice.

“Allow me” Doctor Strange, appearing suddenly at Tony’s side. Guilt was evident in his eyes, as he took in Tony’s condition.

He waved his hands, opening a glowing portal- the other side was a stark white hallway, clearly belonging to a hospital.

“Let’s go” Harley declared, his tone leaving no room for discussion.

He and Peter delicately lifted Tony between them and stepped through the portal after the wizard.

Pepper followed immediately, as did Rhodes after a quick nod to the gathered Avengers.

Tony was placed on a gurney and whisked away without another word.

\----------

It was a week before Tony woke up for longer than a few seconds at a time. A week of rotating shifts, watching his hospital bed. A week of worrying if he would ever wake up again.

But he did. Finally. He lurched awake, attempting to sit up, and groaned in agony at the movement.

After taking the time to catch his breath, he turned towards the source- expecting to see his charred right arm, only to be met with the sight of absolutely nothing instead.

“Fuck.”

Tony’s voice startled Harley awake, and he rushed to his side.

“FRIDAY let everyone know he’s conscious please” Harley spoke into the tablet at the foot of Tony’s bed.

“How are you feeling Tony?”

“Sore” Tony deadpanned, “How bad was it?”

“I don’t know the full medical jargon, but they had to amputate your whole arm, and do skin grafts on your chest, neck and face” Harley explained as best he could.

Tony nodded at his words, accepting his fate easily. He hadn’t expected to live at all, so this… this situation was nothing he couldn’t handle.

Good thing he had been perfecting robotic limbs and neural interfacing for the last 14 years- he was confident he could alter one of his reactors to serve as a power source/ housing unit for a permanent prosthetic.

“Tony?” Harley tested gingerly, unsure if Tony had gone into shock.

“Sorry kid lost in thought- I was just planning out the colour scheme for my prosthetic arm” Tony explained with a chuckle.

“Only you Tony, only you” Harley grinned in amusement, grateful his Dad was still himself. 

The moment was broken as the door pushed open. A doctor stepped into the room, followed by Pepper, carrying Morgan, Rhodey and Peter. 

Harley moved to greet his boyfriend, as the doctor gave Tony a proper run down of his condition.

“You’re handling this remarkably well Mr. Stark, most people panic at the news they’ve lost a limb” the Doctor said as Harley tuned back into the conversation.

“Yeah well… I’m alive, that’s all that matters” Tony clarified earnestly.

“You okay Daddy?” Morgan piped up from Pepper’s arms. 

“Yeah baby girl, I’m okay” Tony answered her with an honest smile.

Even though he knew the next few months were going to be rough, recovering from an injury that should have killed him- Tony was optimistic. He had his family by his side, the universe was healing and not even missing a limb could dampen his spirit.

They were all going to be okay.


	13. What if Tony got to spend more time with his Family?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Post Endgame AU- Tony lives of course, but this doesn't intentionally continue on from the 3 previous chapters. It's literally just fluff, of Tony hanging out with his fam- please enjoy :)

Harley was extremely excited, after weeks of preparation, the big day was finally here.

Morgan’s 5th birthday.

It was gonna be epic. She had chosen ‘pirates’ as her theme, declaring that they were coolest and that everybody had to dress like them.

Together, Peter, Harley and Tony had designed a treasure hunt, a map to follow and a secret prize at the end.

No matter how much Harley or Peter begged, Tony refused to tell them what was in the treasure chest they helped him bury in the sand next to the lake.

Everyone had costumes ready, with varying levels of effort. Rhodey & Happy had found a 2 pack of eye patches, and a sword each and called it a day.

Peter and Harley had found jackets, hats and pistols that fit that part, then jokingly spoke in terrible pirate voices for the weeks leading up to the party.

Pepper found a pirate wench costume online for herself, and a mini matching one for her daughter- as well as a sword, compass, and telescope because in Morgan’s words she “wouldn’t be a pirate without them.”

Tony went all out. Sue him- he loved dressing up. He had a wig, hat, eye patch, and dirty ye olde clothes to match. He had even reshaped the nano bots of his prosthetic arm to be a golden hook instead of a hand.

\---------------

After breakfast Tony & the kids put on their outfits and headed outside. Peter and Harley had burst into surprised laughter at Tony’s costume reveal and seeing his kids so happy made him glad he chose to be extra.

Morgan was presented with the map, and they spent the next 45 minutes trekking across the yard, following the clues.

The 2nd last stop was her playhouse and she emerged with a happy cry “the treasure is buried at the lake.”

Together they headed in that direction, Tony whispering to FRIDAY that their hunt was over.

Said AI flew down an older suit down to meet them.

“X marks the spot right boss?” FRIDAY asked, as Tony checked the map.

“You got that right Fri, alright you rapscallions, ready to start digging?” Tony answered in a terrible pirate voice, sparking more laughter from the kids.

“Sure thing Mr. Stark!” an all too eager Peter replied, forever happy to spend time with his ‘siblings’.

“What and you’re just gonna stand there old man?” Harley sassed, hoping to goad Tony into putting in some work.

“Hey, I set this whole thing up! See that X in the sand? That took me like 20 minutes- besides the Captain doesn’t do the digging.” Tony argued, his serious expression ruined by his outfit.

“I thought Morgan was the Captain, I mean it is HER birthday after all” Peter chimed in seeming to follow an unspoken que from Harley, who had yet to look up from his digging.

“That makes sense to me” Harley agreed easily, pausing his movements to lean against the shovel and stare Tony into submission.

Morgan was smiling happily as she handed her dad the shovel, winking at her brothers cheekily.

“Huh… outsmarted by my own kids” Tony scoffed in realisation that he had been played.

“They learned from the best I’m afraid boss” FRIDAY added as she landed at the lakes edge where they were playing.

The metal arms cradled a tray of drinks, and Pepper appeared a moment later with a large cake. Happy and Rhodey were a half second behind her, both struggling to carry a comical stack of presents each. Once all the items were safely placed on the table Pepper had set up earlier, the newly arrived adults took the time to observe Tony’s costume and promptly burst into laughter too.

Tony gruffed good naturedly, secretly loving the happiness on his family’s faces, after everything they’d been through, it felt amazing to be gathered around in terrible pirate outfits, laughing carelessly.

\----------

“We still have to find the treasure” Morgan declared, staring her dad into submission.

“Aye aye Captain!” Tony indulged with a smile, using the shovel to dig one handed.

Seeing him struggling but resolutely not asking for help, spurred the boys into action as well. Between Peter’s strength and Harley’s determination, their shovels were hitting the top of the literal treasure chest Tony had built, within minutes.

Tony stepped back, leaving the task of lifting it out of the sand to his sons, as Morgan watched on, practically shaking with excitement.

The chest was big, like 3 feet by 2 feet by 2 feet type big and had been painted to look like wood even though it was definitely metal.

Gold trims, the same colour as Tony’s prosthetic arm lined the top of the chest. On the front, sat a large golden padlock that needed a four-digit code instead of key.

“What do you think the code is?” Peter asked Harley, as the two of them moved out of the way so Morgan could investigate her treasure.

“Knowing Tony it’s probably his own name” Harley snickered, earning him a smack upside the head from the aforementioned old man.

“Ow! I was only kidding” he squawked indignantly, as Peter and the adults laughed at him.

Morgan was still looking at the lock thoughtfully, before turning to her dad- eyebrows raised in question.

“I love you”

She smiled in satisfaction and typed 3000 into the lock. It opened with a hiss revealing it was actually a freezer inside.

A freezer full of juice pops of every flavour. Tony had also rigged fairy lights in the lid, so the treasure inside appeared to sparkle as it opened.

“Really old man? This is your idea of treasure” Harley sassed, seconds before Morgan cheered happily.

“I love it! Thank you Daddy” she beamed, throwing herself into his arms.

Tony smirked at the confused expression on Harley’s face, leading the boy to throw his hands up in defeat.

Juice pops were handed out, and the makeshift family stood around enjoying the treats together.

When the time came to sing happy birthday, Tony stood next to Morgan with a gentle hand on her back. As the song came to an end Peter watched Tony shift his grip, saw the mischievous glint in his eyes and realised that the man intended on pushing his daughter into her cake.

With a quick flick of his wrist he shot a web at Tony’s head and pulled him face first into the cake, splattering icing over everything.

“What the hell kid? That was supposed to be my move” Tony spluttered, looking utterly ridiculous covered in pink icing and sprinkles.

Morgan was positively squealing with laughter, delighted at the sight of her dad in his current state. Everyone else followed her lead, the hilarity of the situation too great to ignore.

“Oh god- FRI- please tell me you got that on camera” Harley managed between bouts of laughter, leaning heavily on Peter for support.

“FRIDAY delete that footage” Tony demanded, still failing to look serious.

“Sorry Boss, it seems I can’t perform that function at this time” FRIDAY responded, somehow managing to sound both regretful and amused.

Tony grumbled out a thank you when Pepper handed him some paper towels, and the laughter slowly subsided as he cleaned himself up.

“Alright alright, I think it’s time the birthday girl opened her presents” Tony declared, pulling the attention away from himself and back to his daughter.

Morgan’s eyes darted over to the large pile of presents, as a wide grin stretched over her face and she rushed over to start unwrapping them.

The adults stood back and watched as Morgan, with the help of Peter and Harley, made their way through the stack of presents- revealing countless toys, drawing supplies and costumes for her to enjoy.

It was a perfect afternoon, one that Tony would forever cherish for being able to have with his makeshift family.


	14. What if Tony and Harley were the one's sent to fetch the Soul Stone?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a little more Tony-centric than usual, I wanted to explore what could of happened if it wasn't Clint and Natasha who collected the stone but instead my boys went.
> 
> (Also in canon, we don't know either of Harley's bio parents names, so I made one up✌)

Harley was a wreck. He had helplessly watched Tony fly into space after the aliens had come back, with no sign he’d be coming home. Then his mum and sister had turned to dust in front of him, so he left Tennessee and headed for New York.

Upon his arrival at the Avengers compound, Rhodey filled him in about Thanos, and the fact they had had no communication with Tony since he’d flown into space.

The day Tony returned was an emotional one, Harley had collapsed into his father figures arms in relief. After he healed up, Pepper and Harley moved to the lakeside cabin Tony had tucked away.

Tony and Pepper got married, and soon afterwards Morgan joined the family. They lived in relative harmony for the next 5 years, until the day Steve and Natasha showed up to disturb the peace.

Harley understood, once they’d left, it didn’t matter that Tony had told them ‘no’, he was going to figure it out anyway, because that’s just who he is.

So they ran the numbers, and after dozens of failed attempts, they found a way. A way to successfully time travel and hopefully, a way to fix this for good.

They told Pepper together, Tony still feeling on the fence about the risk. She told them to go, to do everything they could to try and fix the damage Thanos had caused.

They headed for the compound right away, arriving moments after the Avengers disastrous first attempt at time travel.

Together, the team built the machine that would hopefully allow them to pull off this insane scheme, then planned exactly when and where they would go after each stone.

Harley and Tony were heading to Vormir together, splitting off from Rhodey and Nebula in space.

Tony was feeling good. He really believed they could pull this off.

Harley on the other hand was freaking out, not only was he officially working with the Avengers, he also had to travel through space and time in order to retrieve a powerful rock to prevent the most dangerous being in the universe from doing more damage.

It was insane. Yet everybody seemed to be acting as if this was just another day, just another mission.

As they hugged Rhodey goodbye and good luck, Harley noticed a flash of guilt in Nebula’s eyes that left him deeply unsettled.

She had been pretty tight lipped about Vormir from the start, refusing to go into much detail of what they would encounter there, to get the soul stone.

Harley didn’t get the chance to ask though, as the pairs parted ways and he & Tony boarded the guardians ship.

Seated comfortably in the drivers’ seat, Tony set their course and they took off towards the unknown planet.

“How are you feeling kiddo?” Tony asked once they were flying through space.

“Nervous as hell. I’m trying to be brave right now, but honestly Tony I’m terrified” Harley confided, knowing his Dad would understand.

“Me too Harls. It’s gonna be okay. You & I can handle anything this place throws at us” Tony reassured, hoping to soothe both their nerves.

Harley nodded back numbly, praying that the mission was a success, for them and for all the other teams currently risking everything for this crazy heist plan.

Harley had to admit Vormir was beautiful, haunting, but undeniably beautiful. Its purple sky, vast dunes and ominous mountains made for a stunning picture.

Tony seemed to have similar thoughts, as he gazed around with wide eyes.

The sky appeared to be pulsing above the mountain in front of them.

“That seems suitably ominous… I say we start up there” Tony ventured, gesturing to the restless sky above.

The trek up the mountain was easy, and soon they were being greeted by a floating, cloaked figure.

“Anthony son of Howard” a deep voice said from within the dark cloak, “Harley son of Amanda”

“Uh… yeah Cloak of Doom, that’s us. You wouldn’t happen to know where the soul stone is would you?” Tony asked, trying to see who or what was under the dark hood.

“Of course, for I am a guide to all who seek the soul stone” he turned away from them and drifted towards the cliffs edge.

Tony and Harley followed him cautiously glancing at the swirling darkness above them and the ominous drop below.

“What you seek lies in front of you… as does what you fear”

“The stone is down there?” Harley asked pointing to the distant ground, hoping that the discolouration on patches of the rocks wasn’t from blood.

“For one of you yes. In order to take the stone, you must lose that which you love. An everlasting exchange. A soul, for a soul”

“Fuck.”

\---------

“Alright well that’s my cue I guess. Tell my family I love them, good luck saving the universe and try not to miss me too much…” Harley declared, moving purposefully towards the edge.

“Shut up Harley. Don’t even think about taking another step,” Tony growled, moving forward, and grabbing Harley’s arm, tugging him back from the cliffs edge. “If anyone is going over that cliff, it’s gonna be me. I’ve been alive longer, you deserve to live through this” he finished.

“Tony- you’re Iron Man, you’re probably the smartest person on the planet. You have a wife & daughter who need you to come home- the Avengers need you, the universe needs you” Harley paused, taking a shuddering breath, before continuing, his voice coming out so utterly defeated “I’m no one, okay? Just some kid from Tennessee that nobody will miss, so please… don’t fight me this.”

Tony cringed as he listened to his pseudo sons’ words, because, for a split second, a small part of him agreed with the sentiment that he was more important- that he was vital to the coming fight (and he hated himself for it). But hearing Harley talk so poorly about himself quickly consumed all his other thoughts.

He pulled the boy into his arms, “Harley you are so important to so many people… especially me. Please don’t ever think so little of yourself” Tony begged.

Harley snuggled further into his chest and relished in the warmth of the embrace. When Tony pulled back and walked quickly to the edge- Harley’s heart lurched as he stumbled after him.

He did not jump. No- Tony simply stood at the very edge and glared. He thought about what he had lost over the years and let the fear of Harley joining that list wash over him, his temper soared and he decided right there that he had had enough- and the universe was gonna know about it.

“HAVEN’T I SACRIFICED ENOUGH ALREADY?!” he screamed at the sky, daring it to disagree.

Harley watched on in horror as the sky roared back, and Tony collapsed, unresponsive as the universe judged his claim.

Tony gazed wearily at the vast nothingness of space surrounding him, looking down at his own hand, only to see that his body was glowing orange. He considered calling out, asking to know what was happening to him, when a voice boomed from nowhere and everywhere all at once.

** _“Let us see you Anthony, bare your soul to us.”_ **

**~~~~~~**

His childhood was over in a blink, echoes of Howard’s neglect and dismissal rumbled through him as ancient memories flickered past his eyes.

_“Not now Anthony, can’t you see I’m working” _

_"Tony, what are you doing back there? What is that? Put that back. Put it back where you got it from. Where’s your mother? Maria? Go on. Go, go, go, go."_

**~~~~~~**

Afghanistan followed of course. He screamed as he felt hands in his chest again, lungs burning at the reminder of exactly how he ended up with an arc reactor in his sternum. Seeing his weapons in the hands of terrorists made his stomach churn, his god fathers betrayal aching even after all this time.

_“That is your legacy, Stark. Your life's work, in the hands of those murderers. Is this the last act of defiance of the great Tony Stark?”_

A tear rolled down his face at the sight of Yinsen, the kindest man he’d ever known, taking his final, bloodied breath.

_“Don't waste it. Don't waste your life.”_

**~~~~~~**

Being paralysed by a man he had looked up to his whole life was agonising. Watching helplessly as his father figure, quite literally removed his heart and admitted he had been using him all along- it was a reminder of a pain that he’d never truly been able to heal from.

_"When I ordered the hit on you, I worried that I was killing the golden goose."_

_"You had one last golden egg to give. Do you really think that just because you have an idea, it belongs to you?”_

**~~~~~~**

Looking on as he slowly died of palladium poisoning wasn’t any easier then living through it- remembering the anguish of knowing he was going to die from the very machine that was keeping him alive.

_“Palladium in the chest, painful way to die."_

Nor was seeing SHIELD dangle the cure at him in the last second, paired with the sting of the needle as Natasha injected him with an unknown substance without his consent. All the while, fighting off an enemy he had inherited- only for the icing on the cake to come in the form of once again being told he wasn’t good enough.

"_Iron Man? Yes. Tony Stark not recommended.”_

**~~~~~~**

Facing off against Loki was just as awful as a witness- the blinding panic Tony felt when he had raised the sceptre, only to hit the arc reactor instead of his chest, knowing it prevented him from becoming Loki’s puppet. Feeling the God’s hand on his throat, followed by the sharp pain of smashing through the window and almost falling to his death, was enough for Tony to beg this whole experience to be over with.

_"How will your friends have time for me, when they're so busy fighting you?"_

**~~~~~~**

The weight of the Nuke was heavy on his back, as he hurled desperately towards the portal. Seeing space expand endlessly in front of him once again, stopped his breath short, fear numbing his mind. Observing the vastness of Thanos’ army waiting for their chance to destroy his world, increased his fear tenfold.

_"Stark, you know that's a one-way trip?"_

**~~~~~~**

Looking down at his bodyguard turned close friend, bloody and broken in a hospital bed was a brutal reminder of what happens to people when they get close to him.

Not being able to reach Pepper, no matter how hard he tried was agonising to relive. Seeing her reach for him so desperately, only to fall through his grasp… that moment, it felt like he died with her. The image of her disappearing into the flames below, screaming his name haunted in his nightmares to this day. His own words rang through his mind, reminding him of his failure to protect his love.

_“Pep, I got you. Relax, I got you. Just look at me! Honey, I can't reach any further and you can't stay there. All right? You've got to let go. You've got to let go! I'll catch you, I promise. No!” _

_“TONY!”_

**~~~~~~**

He squeezed his eyes tighter at the memory of Pepper’s fall and opened them to the vision of his teammates dead bodies sprawled before him, Leviathan & Chitauri moving to destroy the rest of the world. Only now, seeing it again, did he notice the red tint to the images, proving it was Maximoff’s manipulations, not just his PTSD riddled brain torturing himself.

_“You could have saved us. Why didn't you do more?” _

He saw himself tell Fury what he’d seen, listened to himself voice his biggest fear.

_"And I'm the man who killed the Avengers. I saw it. I didn't tell the team, how could I? I saw them all dead, Nick. I felt it. The whole world, too. Because of me" _

**~~~~~~**

Seeing Ultron once again, flooded him with shame and remorse- knowing that something within the mind stone had awoken, attacked JARVIS, stolen the name of his peacekeeping program, and tried to decimate humanity. And that no matter how much he begged, no one believed that he hadn’t made the homicidal AI, who seemed to loathe his very existence.

_"You think I'm one of Stark's puppets, his hollow men? I mean look at me, do I look like Iron Man? Stark is nothing!"_

**~~~~~~**

Being lifted by the throat, in the unforgiving grip only a God could possess, was a memory he wished wasn’t real- because Loki was one thing, he was an enemy. But Thor, Thor was his teammate, his friend- so the reminder that he had assaulted him outside of the suit, while he was so utterly defenceless, burned. Seeing no one move to help him, not even Rhodey, hurt even more than the phantom grip on his neck.

_“Come on. Use your words, buddy.”_

_“I have more than enough words to describe you, Stark.”_

**~~~~~~**

Losing JARVIS was a pain he never prepared himself to feel. Losing his human counterpart as a teenager was heartbreaking, and he foolishly presumed that the trusted AI could never been taken from him. Oh how wrong he’d been.

_"Jarvis. Jarvis? Don't leave me, buddy."_

Hearing the Vision’s first words, in JARVIS’s familiar voice, and learning he was truly gone this time… that was the moment Tony lost his oldest friend.

_“I am not Ultron. I'm not JARVIS either.”_

**~~~~~~**

The airport fight- a shitshow that never should have happened. Even knowing that Rhodey was okay, and that he held no ill will towards Tony, did nothing to ease the pain of seeing him fall through the sky, knowing he would fail to reach him before he slammed back into the earth.

_“Rhodey!”_

_“Tony, I'm flying dead stick.”_

_“RHODES!”_

**~~~~~~**

Steve Rogers was righteous in his betrayal. The sight of his parents’ murder tore open the unhealed wound of losing them. But watching himself turn to his team leader and friend, expecting to see shock or sadness, only to find guilt instead- was just as heartbreaking as the first time. The ease at which the other man lied in the moments that followed, still burned painfully in his chest.

_“Did you know?”_

_“I didn't know it was him.”_

_“Don’t bullshit me, Rogers! Did you know?”_

_“Yes.”_

**~~~~~~**

Reliving the battle on Titan was just as brutal as fighting it had been. The force of the moon crushing him, of Thanos raining blows unforgivingly onto his skull and worst of all, the pain of a piece of his own broken suit tearing through his stomach, like it was nothing. Tony barely heard the words Thanos had spoken afterwards, the roar of blood in his ears was all encompassing, as his body became blinded by the sharp pain in his side.

_"You have my respect, Stark. When I'm done, half of humanity will still be alive. I hope they remember you."_

**~~~~~~**

Tony knew what he’d see next, so he clenched his eyes shut and slurred a desperate plea to the universe not to make him watch, that once was enough- he did not need to relive this pain. But the universe needed to know, to understand the man and his experiences, so the scene shifted, and Tony’s eyes opened against his will.

The Guardians disintegrated one by one, just as they had before, followed by an apologetic Doctor Strange. Peter’s fearful voice turned his chest to ice, just as painful as hearing it for the first time. Watching the kid turn to nothing in his arms, begging to be saved… well that was Tony’s last straw. It was the moment that had broken the fight within him, a fight that took 5 years of living with his family to even consider being able to get back up and try again.

_"Mr. Stark? I don't feel so good... I don't know what's -- I don't know what's happening. I don't-- I don't wanna go, I don't wanna go, Mr. Stark, please. Please, I don't wanna go. I don't wanna go... I'm sorry."_

**~~~~~~**

The memory faded away, and Tony found himself floating alone in space once more.

**“I am sorry for the things you have suffered young one, it seems your life- your past, present and future, is one of sacrifice. Go now, do what needs to be done” **

\--------

Tony woke up to Harley’s frantic voice, feeling himself being shaken desperately.

“Tony- fuck- please wake up”

“Harley- it’s okay, I’m fine” Tony soothed, trying to sit up but struggling due to the exhaustion that had settled deep in his bones.

“You just collapsed and wouldn’t wake up- you’re not fine, Tony you’ve been unconscious for like half an hour”

“If I may interrupt, it seems the soul stone chose to communicate with you directly… I believe it has deemed your life to be worthy, there is no need for further sacrifice today” the stone keeper said, drifting towards them.

Before Tony had the chance to answer him, the world flashed orange and Harley & Tony found themselves sitting in a seemingly endless pool of shallow water.

“What the hell just-” Harley started before Tony cut off.

“Harley… look” he said with a startled smile, gesturing to the infinity stone resting in his palm, “We got it.”

“Thank god” Harley breathed out, burying his face into Tony’s chest.

\----------

When the team reappeared on the platform, smiles were shared all around as they revelled in their collective success.

Nebula approached Tony & Harley slowly, curiosity and regret shining in her mechanical eyes.

“How are you both here?” she asked cautiously.

“I told the universe I’d already lost enough. It seemed to agree with me” Tony explained curtly, before his anger dissipated, “I don’t blame you for not telling us… if you had, well, who knows what might have happened.”

“I don’t deserve that kindness- but thank you all the same” Nebula smiled slightly at him, before turning away and striding out of the compound.

Rhodey watched her leave, raising an eyebrow at his best friend curiously.

‘Nothing to worry about’ Tony mouthed in reassurance.

“We okay?” Tony asked as he turned back to the boy beside him.

“Yeah old man, we’re okay”

Together the team moved towards the labs, ready to prepare the stones and undo the damage the Mad Titan had caused. So far, the plan had been a success, Harley crossed his fingers in hope that everything else would work out in their favour.

Boy was he wrong.


	15. What if Harley went to Titan as well?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harley joins Peter and Tony on Titan, and the fight goes quite differently because of it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for disappearing for like 5 weeks- my bad. But I'm back with a cahpter, please enjoy :)
> 
> Quick shout out to Apex_Calibre for the inspiration

Tony was pretty annoyed at his current situation. He had been having a lovely jog in Central Park with Pepper, when a goddamn wizard showed up with Bruce, his science bro who’d been MIA for like 3 years and told him the fucking aliens responsible for New York were coming back.

Then some of said aliens arrived, trying to steal the wizard’s infinity stone necklace and Tony’s dumbass protegees entered the fray. Harley was still fairly new to piloting the suit they’d built together but seemed to handle himself quite well in the ensuing battle.

Watching his spider kid get beamed up with the wizard, closely chased by the “Iron Lad” (yes, obviously Harley chose his name), topped the list of stressful things Tony has witnessed- and he’s seen some shit.

After rescuing a rather ungrateful Dr. Strange, there was barely time to berate the boys before they crash landed on Titan and got harassed by even more aliens, who in the end became somewhat useful allies. 

\----------

They almost had it.

Mantis was keeping Thanos semi-unconscious, Drax was holding for dear life onto his legs, Dr Strange had magic ropes around his arms and chest, as Peter and Harley frantically pulled at the gauntlet.

When Quill started asking about Gamora, Tony knew what was about to happen. He grabbed the emotional man from behind, pining both arms to his chest and begged him to wait until they got the gauntlet off. Stranges’ eyes widened, and he gave Tony an apologetic look before letting go of his magic.

The effect was immediate, Mantis was thrown from Thanos’ shoulders, he secured the gauntlet once more and chaos reigned.

The battle made it nearly impossible to keep track of everyone, as pieces of the planet cracked open once the mad Titan dropped a moon on them, on Tony.

Peter was busy trying to rescue the Guardians that were drifting unconscious across the planet’s unstable atmosphere.

Harley was facing off Thanos 1v1, knowing it was not a fight he would win. He tried though, fighting with everything he had and actually managed to hold his own until Thanos swung a solid backhand. The glow of the power stone seared into Harley’s eyes as he flew back, colliding painfully with the solid ground.

He lay unmoving, ice in his veins as Thanos stalked towards him- '_this is it then I guess'_ he thought despondently.

Harley thanked every God he could name, when Tony landed protectively in front of him in his signature 3-point pose.

“If you throw another moon at me, I’m gonna lose it- now get the fuck away from my kid.”

“Stark. A pleasure to finally meet you” the Titan greeted, startling a flinch from the human facing off against him.

“You know me?”

“You destroyed the army I gave to that pitiful Asgardian- of course I learned your name” Thanos spat, before throwing a brutal attack from the power stone, forcing Tony to form a shield as he was pushed back several feet.

He flew straight for the Titan, shooting a nano particle shackle, that attached to his right arm and pulled it harshly to the ground, leaving his face unguarded. He put his entire body into the hit, and felt a brief, bitter flash of excitement at the single drop of blood that rolled down his enemy’s cheek.

“All that for a drop of blood” Thanos taunted, before battering Tony across the face.

As his mask was shattered, again and again, Tony soon gave up on reforming it and instead used the last of his bots to form a blade on his right hand. He thrust it forward with everything he had, but the Titan snapped it in half before it could even scratch him, throwing Tony away like he was nothing.

“I have long awaited meeting you in battle Stark, you fought well but it was not enough- today you shall experience pain like no other”

As he spoke, Thanos moved towards Harley’s motionless body, and hoisted him up by the throat.

Tony begged him not to hurt the kid, urgently willing his body to find the strength to do something- anything to make him stop.

Harley’s suit glowed blue as Thanos tore it apart with the space stone, leaving the boy in nothing but his paper-thin under suit.

“This is that pain” Thanos muttered, thrusting the broken piece of the Iron Man suit clean through Harley’s side.

He didn’t scream or cry out, no, Harley just let out a broken gasp and looked at Tony with so much fear and pain in his eyes, as Thanos pulled the blade back out and dropped him.

The Titan laughed at the wounded noise that escaped Harley’s throat when he hit the ground. He stood tall and raised one leg menacingly towards Harley’s prone form when a voice interrupted him.

“Don’t! Please- just spare the kid’s life and I’ll give you the stone”

“No tricks” Thanos warned, lowering his leg back to the ground slowly.

“No- don’t… I’m not worth an infinity stone” Harley sobbed, through broken breaths.

“The child is right- the fate of the universe rests on your shoulders and you choose to protect one meaningless innocent?”

“You matter more than you think kid”

With a final nod Strange pulled the green gem from the pocket dimension he’d hidden it in and sent it across to the Titan- who placed it within the gauntlet and disappeared without a word.

“Did we just lose?”

No one answered Quill, but the silence itself was a weighted response.

\------

“Fuck Harls are you okay?” fretted Tony as he reached the boy, checking over his injuries in a futile attempt to calm his own nerves.

With a quick motion Tony sprayed his bonding agent onto the stab wound and hoped it would hold together long enough to get his kid back to Earth safely.

Peter rushed over to help Harley once Thanos was gone, having witnessed the events helplessly from afar. Tony told them to stay together as he went to talk to Strange and the Guardians, knowing Peter would do everything he could for his friend.

“Jesus Harley- that looks pretty bad… how much does it hurt?”

“It’s kinda gone numb now honestly, I don’t know if that’s good or not”

“Maybe we should ask some-“

“Something’s happening!” Mantis said urgently, her antenna glowing bright, her face terrified. She never made it further in her explanation, as her body turned to ash before anyone could blink.

“Quill?” Drax’s voice rang out, so full of confusion and fear as he faded away.

“Oh man” was all Quill could manage before he faded to nothing as well.

Tony turned to Strange anxiously, wondering if this was apart of the bigger plan or if they had actually just lost.

Strange spoke before Tony could, “I’m sorry, this was the only way”, turning to dust at the last word.

Harley and Peter were huddled together, Peter taking most of Harley’s weight. They were walking towards Tony, who stood shakily out of his suit.

“Mr Stark?” Peter called out, his voice shaking with worry and confusion.

Tony turned towards them and took a single unsteady step, his eyes wide with fear as his hands began to disappear.

“Dad NO- please” Harley yelled, desperately reaching for the fading man.

“I’m sorry boys” Tony managed before turning completely to dust, carried away by the wind.

Peter stumbled as Harley became a dead weight, overwhelmed completely with grief.

\------

“He actually did it” Nebula said, approaching the pair cautiously.

“Well fuck.”

“What are we supposed to do now? How do we get home?” Peter asked worriedly.

“You’re from Terra right? Earth- like Quill was?” inquired Nebula, as she started to form a plan in her mind.

“Yeah we are, and we need to get him back there now- he needs serious help” Peter answered, gesturing to Harley’s wound.

“We’ll take their ship, come on- I’ll get you both home”

Supporting Harley between them, the 3 survivors made their way to the Guardians’ ship, preparing for the long journey ahead, not truly understanding exactly how hard it was going to be.


	16. What if Tony didn't go to Siberia alone?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harley goes to Siberia with Tony, and helps change everything for the better

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As per usual this isn't particularly Steve Rogers friendly, and I kinda let Bucky have actual emotions for a change too.
> 
> Sorry for disappearing forever- hopefully this chapter is worth the wait. Thanks for reading :)

The airport battle was chaos. Vision accidently hitting Rhodey, Rhodey falling from the sky, Natasha switching sides and attacking King T’Challa.

Team Cap getting arrested, which was obviously 100% Tony’s fault.

Harley was angry, furious even- he wanted to storm onto the raft & scream some sense into the adults who destroyed a foreign airport for no good reason.

But Tony told him to stay on the helicopter, so he did- it was no use giving Ross anymore ammunition against them, as he was already demanding to know who piloted the red and black Iron Man suit.

It wasn’t long until Tony returned, throwing a little sass at the General as climbed back into the chopper.

“This is worse than we thought- the psycho that framed Cap’s boyfriend, plans on releasing 5 other super assassins just like him. I wish I didn’t have to ask, but Christ kid I really need you with me on this one- I have no idea what we’ll be dropping into but I need you Harlz” Tony explained, one hand on Harley’s knee as he asked for help.

“I’ve got you Tony, no matter what” Harley vowed, placing his hand over Tony’s in support.

“Thanks kid… let’s suit up and finish this.”

They dropped from the helicopter at the same time, watching it disappear into the clouds on its way back to America.

FRIDAY guided them to the Hydra base, buried deep in the Siberian snow. There were fresh tracks leading to the front door, which Tony and Harley moved through, repulsors raised.

Tony figured they’d be met with more hostility, but when they caught up to the Captain and his guard dog, they were angrier that Tony had quote “brought a child into yet another fight he didn’t belong in”.

“Fuck off Grandpa. If we’re really about to fight 5 highly trained super soldiers, then me being here in a walking tank, might just save your life” Harley snapped, so far from done with this entire situation.

Before Steve could argue back, the soldier lowered his gun and stepped forward.

“The kids’ right Stevie- that armour they’re wearin’ is something Hydra’s been afraid of since Stark first built it” Barnes said, surprising everyone in the room.

“Thanks Manchurian Candidate” Tony answered with an honest smile.

The metal armed man simply nodded, then the four of them made their way further into the base.

As Steve and Tony took the front, Harley dropped back a pace to walk alongside the soldier, noticing that the man was trembling slightly.

“Are you okay... uh… Sargent Barnes?” the young boy asked, risking a glance at the shaking man.

“Call me Bucky kid- and I’ll be fine, just got a lot of bad memories of this place is all” Bucky remarked, looking curiously at the boy before him.

“Okay Bucky- well my name’s Harley and if it’s alright with you, I’ll stay close by and keep you safe” announced Harley with confidence.

“That sounds swell Harley, thank you” Bucky said, already feeling calmer in the boy’s presence.

“Love your arm by the way” Harley smiled.

Bucky smiled back.

As they entered the main chamber of the base, Bucky flinched upon noticing the chair.

“It’s okay Bucky- I’ll keep you safe remember” Harley whispered in reassurance.

Bucky took a deep, shuddering breath and nodded, stepping a little closer to the Iron Lad.

The lights came on, revealing that the other 5 soldiers were already dead in their cyro chambers- executed in their sleep.

“Did you really think I wanted more of you? Please- their only purpose was to bring you here. Although I hadn’t anticipated 2 Iron men” Zemo’s voice crackled over a speaker, startling the four heroes from staring at the dead bodies.

Steve threw his shield at the window, prompting a chuckle from Zemo, as it simply bounced off.

“The Soviet’s built this bunker to withstand 100 rockets Captain”

“I’m sure I could beat that” Tony vowed.

“I’m sure you could Mr Stark, but that’s not why I brought you here. Today is not about me fighting you, today is about justice- for my family and my country. I’ve spent the last year watching you, studying you, planning my revenge- and yet somehow, I don’t recognise the child with you- you must’ve hidden him well” Zemo monologued, his eyes remaining on Harley longer than Tony liked.

“You’re Sokovian? I’m sorry” consoled Tony.

“I am yes, and that’s why I’m here. An empire toppled from outside can be rebuilt, but one toppled from within… that is broken forever” Zemo finished.

As he spoke, the ancient TV in front of them flickered to life.

“I know that road- what is this?” Tony shuddered.

“Oh god Mr Stark…” Bucky whispered brokenly, tears welling in his eyes as he realised Zemo’s plan.

Harley thought back to when Tony told him about the night, he lost his parents, remembering how hurt he still sounded. He then thought of the BARF presentation from the days previous and realised if this video was what he thought it was, then Tony was about to have his heart ripped out.

“Tony don’t watch!” Harley called desperately.

But it was too late, the Winter Soldier was on screen, shooting at the Stark’s tyres, causing the car to slam into a tree.

Harley took a step forward, planting himself firmly between Bucky & Tony, looking back up at the screen in time to see Howard Stark recognise his attacker seconds before having his skull caved in.

Maria Stark’s broken, desperate voice echoed through the otherwise silent bunker, triggering a steady stream of tears from Bucky’s eyes.

The video stopped as the Winter Soldier shot the camera out.

Tony took a single, steadying breath, sparring a glance at the agonised expression on the soldiers’ face, and the worry in Harley’s eyes- before turning to Steve.

The Captain’s expression was one of guilt rather then surprise or sadness, and Tony knew before he asked, that Steve had kept this from him.

“Did you know?” Tony’s voiced cracked slightly as he asked,

“I didn’t know it was him”

“Don’t lie to me Steve, did you know?”

“Yes”

“It seems that the Great Captain America is a liar” Zemo taunted, safely behind the glass.

“How could you do that Steve?” Bucky asked, voice full of regret and confusion. He turned towards Tony, tears still running down his face, and spoke again.

“I’m so sorry Mr Stark, I didn’t even remember until I saw it, and I’m so sorry Steve hid it from you- you deserved to know that I… that I killed your parents”

“Bucky no- it wasn’t you, it was Hydra, you didn’t-”

“Steve stop- Hydra might’ve given the order, but I’m still the one who pulled the trigger okay? Me. My hands. My fault.”

“Buck come on just-”

“Shut up! Everybody just stop,” Harley yelled, moving into Tony’s space, “I can’t imagine what you’re feeling right now but you’re gonna get through this” he vowed, pulling Tony into a hug, slightly awkward in their respective suits.

Tony let his kid embrace him, feeling tears fall steadily down his cheeks, his heart weighing a thousand pounds.

He let himself breathe, let his thoughts race and his emotions swell.

_His parents._

He’d spent his whole adult life blaming Howard- his dad, for drink driving, crashing, and killing himself and Maria.

Finding out Hydra had ordered the hit, over a briefcase of super soldier serum. And that the man who carried out the hit was standing 3 feet away, crying, was almost too much to handle.

Tony tightened his grip on Harley, using the boy to centre himself, as he decided his next move.

He pulled away from the hug after another moment and took two steps towards the trembling soldier.

“I forgive you,” Tony said, before Steve once again chose to bullhead the situation.

“There’s nothing to forgive Tony, it wasn’t his fault-”

“Shut the fuck up Captain Hypocrite” Tony snapped, startling the blue-eyed man into silence.

“It wasn’t your choice, I don’t blame you Barnes” Tony finished, no trace of a lie in his voice.

“I don’t deserve your kindness but thank you Mr Stark truly” Bucky sniffled.

“That was really cool of you, Old man” Harley teased, nudging Tony’s side playfully.

“Yeah well you seem a little protective of the Centenarian over there, so I figured I’d better not start a fight” Tony acknowledging, nudging Harley back easily.

The door Zemo was hiding behind swung open with a bang, making the four of them look over in confusion.

King T’Challa emerged, dragging a handcuffed, highly reluctant Sokovian along with him.

“What are you doing Stark? The Captain betrayed you, the Winter Soldier murdered your parents with his bare hands- kill them, hurt them- something!” the cuffed man yelled furiously, straining against the King’s hold.

Tony removed a gag from his suit and tossed it to the panther King, who caught it easily in one outstretched hand.

“Shut him up will you your highness?” called Tony.

“Gladly Mr Stark” was the reply as he slapped the gag over Zemo’s face.

“I’m sorry for hunting you down Mr Barnes, it seems you are not responsible for my fathers’ death after all- I apologise” T’Challa said, locking eyes with a lost looking Bucky.

“Oh, that’s okay Sir, I understand” Bucky stammered out, confused expression unwavering.

“Okay if we’re done apologising to Bucky, then I’d like to leave this place” Steve interjected, apparently sick of not being the focus of conversation.

“And go where Rogers? When you threw the deal I made you back in my face, you declared yourself and your bestie wanted fugitives” Tony spat, tired of arguing with the brick wall that was Steve Rogers.

“What deal? Steve what did you do?” Bucky asked before the Captain could speak up again.

“It wasn’t fair Buck, they were going to lock you up”

“I should be locked up Stevie, don’t you understand what I’ve done?”

“No that wasn’t you, it was Hydra- Bucky you’ve done nothing wrong” exasperated Steve, for what felt like the thousandth time.

“If I may, between King T’Challa and myself, I think we can negotiate a deal that would protect Barnes and allow him to get the proper help he needs. If he comes back to the States with me-” Tony interjected, gesturing to the King then back to himself.

“No Tony. **I** won’t let you lock him up again. He needs-”

“Steve stop, just… stop. I’ve spent the last 70 years unable to make a single decision of my own- I want to go with them, and it’s not up to you to tell me no” Bucky spoke up then, possibly for the first time since Hydra captured him.

“I think you should listen to your friend Captain- this is his choice to make” Harley affirmed, before turning to Bucky, “I can stick around while Tony helps you if you’d like.”

“Thank you Harley, that’d be great” answered Bucky earnestly, as he moved towards his best friend, “Steve come with me and let’s fix this mess before it’s too late.”

Steve took a breath and let his eyes wander around the room- taking in the expressions of the men before him. The anger in Zemo’s face, the curiosity in T’Challa’s and righteousness radiating off the kid Tony’s been dragging around.

He locked eyes with Tony and remembered that this was the same Tony who had been fighting by his side for 4 years. The Tony who gave him a floor on the Avengers tower that catered to his every need. The Tony who fought to protect the Avengers best interests at every turn. The Tony he called friend.

It was in that second that Steve realised how stupid he had been- Tony was his friend, his teammate and yet Steve had hidden such a personal secret from him for years. He had treated him with mistrust, and contempt- when Tony had proven, over and over again, that he was the kind of man Steve wanted fighting by his side.

The craziness of the last few days, Laos, the Accords, Peggy, the tunnel, the airport, none of it should have happened the way it did. _Maybe if I had just listened for once, instead of thinking the worst… maybe those fights never would’ve happened._

When he shifted his gaze back to his oldest friend, the man he’d been willing to sacrifice everything for, Steve tried to convey his newfound realisation.

“I know Stevie… we’ll do better from now on” Bucky agreed, easily translating Steve’s desperate expression.

“Okay Tony- let’s do this your way” conceded Steve, in a rare display of submission.

Tony nodded in gratitude and together the 6 men (Harley had been very mature today, so he figured he’d earned the title), walked out of the desolate Hydra base and boarded the jet that would take them home.

Home to new chances and hopefully better choices.


End file.
